


Mortal and Magic

by Silverheart



Category: Halloweentown
Genre: College was not this fun, F/M, Halloween, I wrote this a long time ago, very silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2013-11-01
Packaged: 2017-12-30 05:42:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1014819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverheart/pseuds/Silverheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ethan Dalloway is starting to get a feel for the new life he's chosen at Witch University. However, the maneuverings of his father and the heroism of the Piper family aren't about to let him go.</p><p>Return to Halloweentown from the point of view from of Ethan Dalloway, written when I was a college sophomore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was the first longer fic I ever wrote, when I noticed Lucas Grabeel was cute and Halloweentown was a fun place to play in October. It was originally posted to my LJ, under the name argentum_cor, with a stupid photoshop banner. In honor of the Halloween season, and because I'm weirdly proud of it, I'm posting it here. It is very silly.

(1st week of Sept.)

‘ _The witches of Macbeth are, at first glance, caricatures. However, their transcendent value lies in their unique, almost paradoxical…_ ’

Ethan’s eyes finally drifted shut. He should fight it. But it felt so very, very good not to be reading anymore.  Magic Themes Using Classic Literature was not the most exciting class, required though it was.

“Ethan Dalloway.” With that _special_ emphasis on his last name. Great.

He turned to look around, and found Doctor Goodwin, with that creepy smile painted on her face. Ethan stood out of politeness—and the fact that this woman was not a witch to be disrespected. “Doctor, um, pleasure to see you. What brings you to the library so late?”

“Well, what keeps you here so late, Mr. Dalloway?” Her tone was a bit lighter; that may have been a joke. “I was hoping to get a chance to speak with you in private.”

“What for?” He hadn’t been in trouble, at least not in any way that would warrant her attention. That silly string all over the warlock dorms had been a small and untraceable prank.

“Your father.”

Oh. Him. “I’m not going to cause any of that kind of trouble. Or any kind of trouble.”

Goodwin dismissed his worries with the wave of a hand. “I know that. You’ve renounced your powers, after all.” She smirked, a genuine expression. “That does not have to permanent, you know. There are ways of getting them back. I’m aware you did it to atone for how you went along with your father’s plan, but everyone understands. You were young, he is family. I’m sure no one would hold anything against you.”

She apparently knew different magic and different politics than he did. “Uh, thank you. I’m going to stick with it.  I don’t want anything to do with my dad. Like I said, thank you, though.”

“Well, then, just keep it in mind for the future.” She nodded at him and took her leave, regal despite the late hour.

Ethan sat back down with a sigh. Hopefully Goodwin and hers understood. The Dominion wanted power over everything; Ethan just wanted his own life. The Dominion was not the route for that, and he wasn’t going to help them ruin other people’s lives.

He focused on the book again. _‘…few productions feature this scene with Hecate, deeming it too frivolous yet it is an inviolable indication…_ ’ He blinked, and could barely get his eyes open again. The big clock chimed outside—two in the morning.

Time to call it quits. He was not going to get anything actually done this late, and class started at eleven. The librarian, a crazy and bookish old witch, was sending him tired glares.

Ethan smiled at her as disarmingly as he could and packed up. This test hadn’t really called for a study session in the library, but he’d wanted to study someplace quiet. Time had just slipped away as he was struggling to stay awake.

The library lights shut off as soon as he was out the door, leaving the courtyard almost completely dark. Hopefully he hadn’t forgotten anything.

He made his way to the dorms, all tucked under the castle, in the old dungeon. WitchUniversity had shrunk so much that every student now had a place in the big building with room to spare.

Ethan slipped into his room without running into anyone, tossed his stuff on his desk without hitting the light, and fell onto bed. He could brush his teeth in the morning…

Then the witch’s glass rang.

“Damnit.” He really should get that. The old pile of bones would keep on until he answered, anyway. Ethan forced himself off the bed and stumbled across the room towards the desk the glass sat on. It took three clumsy tries to find the thing. He _really_ needed to sleep.

“Raymond,” he told the caller when he answered, “It’s late and I have a test tomorrow.”

“Of course, sir,” the skeleton said, “However, there are issues here that require your attention. You cannot simply cast away your heritage at a moment’s notice, leaving the ancestral estate to descend into ruin.”

Ethan stifled a yawn. “What is it?”

Raymond flashed a bony scowl, which he quickly replaced with bony stodginess. “Mr. Willows would like to have your decision on the selling of the garden towards the north.”

He’d never heard of this before, but hey, whatever. “Okay. Sold.”

“Sir, the price he wants is quite—”

“Take it.”

“Of course, sir.” Raymond was still fighting against Ethan’s decision to sell off most of the Dalloway property, but at least he recognized when Ethan wasn’t having any of it.

“Is that all?” Please let that be all.

“There is a matter of heirlooms…”

Heirlooms which he needed to go through, because there was all kinds of potent magical ones that needed to be kept out of the wrong hands. “I’ll deal with that over the winter break. It’s late and I have a test tomorrow. Good night.”

“Good night, sir.”

Ethan snapped the witch’s glass shut and tossed it back on the desk.  Maybe bringing that thing had been a mistake.

He found his way back into bed, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

 

* * *

 

“Ugh, what is that smell?” Leona asked as she sat down at Ethan’s table. The awful smell was clearly worse for the cat creature—she sounded like she was seriously on the verge of gagging.

“I have no idea and I don’t want one.”

Leona suddenly looked mortified. “Someone has to be _eating_ it.”

Ethan did not let that train of thought start down the track. Breakfast was hard enough to eat as it was, between the smell and the lack of sleep. “You have Lit in the late night class, don’t you? That’s kind of a day ahead.”

“Yeah,” she replied distractedly, scanning the lunch room for the source of the offending odor.

“So should I have spent all night studying?”

“Hello, kitty-cat. Can’t get that litter box smell out, I see.”

Ethan and Leona looked up to see a Sinister—Ethan couldn’t tell the any of trio apart—glaring down at the creature. Her sisters swept dramatically in behind her to join in.

Leona’s hackles rose, which Ethan had never seen before. Normally his next door neighbor, while a bit temperamental, was very cool about it, more often than not leaving the scene suddenly with a devil-may-care attitude.

“Oh, is kitty mad?” another one of the sisters asked. The other two snickered.

“You stinking, cheating, no-good, evil little—” Leona started, but her voice simply stopped. She gripped her throat and gave the Sinisters a glare rivaling their own. Ethan stood on impulse. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was going to do, but he was going to do _something._

“Got your own tongue?” the last triplet asked. Her glance flicked to Ethan, daring him to try.

He froze, recalling some bad times with his dad, including a stint as a sparrow for alleged ‘ingratitude’. But they wouldn’t do anything like that with the rules about magic, not in public, anyway. “You know,” he said, “I think you’re trying to make up for something.”

The three blinked in surprise simultaneously. “ _What_?”

“You wish you were cats.” He shrugged. “I mean, you keep on bringing being a cat up to Leona.” Who was shaking with silenced laughter at the triplets’ shocked and disgusted expressions.  “Do you have another reason?”

They remained frozen in disgust for a second, then the first one glanced down at Leona. “Can you excuse us?”

The cat creature smirked and got up, leaving with laughter in her eyes.

The Sinister Sisters closed in on Ethan. He didn’t like that look in their eyes.

“You know,” one of them purred, “I think you just might be our type, Ethan Dalloway.”

He pulled back a little, looking for some distance. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, come on. It’s _us_.” They came together, almost posing, a very pretty and evil picture. “A little scarlet, some sapphire, and a touch of sage. Just a bit of _magic_ to make life easier.”

Another one of them smiled and drew closer. “It’ll be fun.”

A nest of snakes in the guise of beautiful women were trying to seduce him. Huh. They were Goodwin’s favorites, too, had to be, with all the little spells they pulled off right under her nose. He didn’t like this. “No thanks.”

“Scared? We won’t hurt you.” Ethan supplied his own ‘right now’ to that.

“No. Just, um, you’re not my type. I’m not really into the whole witch and warlock scene, and you are really into it.”

They stood there for a moment, either thinking or trying to win him over with their good looks. “Alright, Dalloway,” one told him as all three turned, “Just think of what you’re missing.”

He watched them leave. That had thrown him off, which may have been the intention. Now Goodwin was going to leap out of the woodwork and make some offer that would completely throw him off balance and into his father’s mad world.

Doctor Goodwin didn’t appear at all during breakfast, and Ethan finished quickly so he could study on the way to ten o’clock class on too little sleep and too much caffeine. New rule for next semester: no classes before eleven.


	2. Chapter 2

(1st week of Sept.)

 It was going to be a good afternoon, Ethan could feel it. He’d aced his test, the weather was nice, and the Sinister Sisters were nowhere to be seen.

Speaking of their trouble…he waved to Leona as she came over. “Are you alright?”

Ethan’s neighbor nodded. “It was just temporary, about an hour. I guess Scarlet wasn’t going to push the rules by making it a long term spell.”

“Scarlet? You can tell which one is which?”

“You can’t? Men! Scarlet usually wears red, Sapphire wears blue, and Sage wears green. They’re named after colors; you’d think that at least might be a good clue!”

Ethan held up his hands. “Hey, take it easy on a guy. Colors aren’t our thing.”

“True. Just remember that, in case you find a body dressed in either blue, or green, or red, so you can tell the authorities which one I killed.”

He laughed. “I think there’s a sign-up sheet for that going around somewhere.”

“You’d think in college this crap would be over and done with.”

“Maybe they’re just trying to hang on to their glory days.”

“Hey, Ethan!” someone shouted.

Ethan looked over to see Dylan Piper…and his sister, who was hiding her face behind a hand. Ethan smiled and waved back, not sure exactly how he should react. There was a lot of mess in that.

“You know them?” Leona asked.

Ethan turned back to her.  “Yeah.  Marnie and Dylan Piper. They were the host family for that whole mortal high school thing.”

“Oh.” Leona knew the story, like most everyone else.  Like everyone else, she also didn’t like to talk about it to Ethan, out of fear for being impolite or bringing up bad memories or something. “Well, you might want to ask the sister out soon, because she’s catching many a male eye. I doubt you noticed that, of course, being male.”

Ethan blushed a little. “We were never a thing. She had a mortal boyfriend the last time I saw her.”

“That means you have a chance; she isn’t a snob, like most witches.”

He ignored that, though it was true. “I can’t think of a reason they would break up. She seemed pretty happy with him at graduation, and she’s…” Ethan shrugged, unable to find the right adjectives. “Marnie.”

“Of course.” Leona looked very satisfied, as if she’d won some game.

“Don’t start.”

“I know, I know. You don’t want people messing with your life. I’m heading out to lunch with the gang from our hall. Apparently Kelli found some place she likes and she swears it won’t turn our hair pink like hers.” Her voice turned almost motherly. “You are invited, you know.”

He was hoping they wouldn’t pull this again. His neighbors were always inviting him out in a little get together, as if they were worried he might slit his wrists or something. There was some pity there, and it made Ethan uncomfortable. They really did like him, but…”Actually, I think I’m going to try and find Marnie at lunch, say hi.”

Leona chuckled, nodding. “Just like I try to say hi to that manticore in history, sure. Have a good day, Ethan.” She headed off, probably to tell the witch Kelli to change the reservations.

He wondered what they thought his problem was. He was getting on fairly well, even without magic or family. Things had happened, he’d done what he felt he needed to do to cope, and life went on.

Ethan sighed and looked at the clock tower. Eleven, and he was still full from breakfast. There was that paper for Trans-Dimensional Interactions, which was due next week. He had time, the library was five minutes away, and he wasn’t really going to do it any other time.

Whoever thought that college was all parties had never seriously gone there.

The library was quite lively when he got there, unlike last night. Students sat all around, reading or writing or, occasionally, sleeping. He could see the slight glow of magic in a back corner, accompanied by paranoid sweeping glances. Strangely, Dr. Goodwin was standing over a table alone, pouring over a very old looking book.

Ethan found a spot near the magic users and pulled out his notes. Topic: the various biases, ideas, and issues that brought about the creation of Halloweentown. Include those of the magical world as well as those of mortals. No more than five pages.

Simple enough. Ethan primed his pen and paper and got to it.

After the first paragraph, his mind wandered beyond all recall. He stared at the entrance like a man under a spell.

Dylan Piper entered after a while, looking hungrily at the books. Ethan stifled a laugh. People accused him of being overly studious sometimes, but he had nothing on Dylan.

Something was off about Dylan, though. It took Ethan’s essay-fogged brain a few minutes to figure it out: he had come in _alone_. Where was his sister?

Not that Ethan minded a lot. Sort of. His dad had made her life really hard for a while. Ethan had gone along with the whole thing until the end. Even the thought of her made him feel awkward now, as if his stomach were doing back flips.

He needed to apologize to her and make this stop.

The big clock struck twelve, shaking Ethan out of his reverie. His stomach stopped doing flips and started growling.

Ethan obediently packed up. Hopefully they would be having something edible. Lunch tended to be hit or miss. They were probably still working out how to feed a whole bunch of creatures with various tastes and needs.

He got there before the rush. Apparently whatever had smelled that morning had been cleaned out.  After a bit searching, Ethan did manage to find something that looked like a hamburger. Whether or not it was, he couldn’t tell. It didn’t taste any different. At least the soda was the same for sure.

The Sinister Sisters came stalking in as he finished up. They didn’t even bother to head for the lunch line. The warlocks nearby summoned their food for them with a quiet golden flash, getting nothing but satisfied glances in return. That was evidently enough; they did the same thing every day.

That could have been him. Ethan shuddered at the thought.

He was distracted from the end of the routine by the welcome sight of Marnie Piper at the buffet table, chatting with a genie he’d seen around. Ethan did not think; he moved, coming up behind them and grabbing a cookie.

Marnie turned around to see him as he pulled away, cookie in hand. “Hey,” she said, smiling shyly.

“Hey.” She had very pretty eyes, a sort of jade color.

The genie turned around. “Wow, that’s quite a vocabulary you guys got there. I can hardly keep up.” Ethan and Marnie both looked sheepish. Ethan kept tight hold of the cookie. “Marnie, this is…?”

“Ethan Dalloway,” Marnie answered.

“You two know each other?”

They were both silent. Ethan searched for words. He didn’t know where they had gone and why he couldn’t find them.

Right. Apologize to Marnie. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. You know, for everything.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I mean, it must be really difficult dealing with your father’s exile.”

“Yeah.” The words suddenly came to him. “But your grandma’s been great, though. I actually worked for her over the summer, helping her collect her gnarlier potion ingredients…snake spit, frog phlegm…”

Both women frowned at the idea. Marnie gave a grimace-like smile. “We get the picture.”

Ethan smiled back at her for a second, the pointed to his table. “You guys want to sit down?”

“Yeah.”

The genie shook his hand as she sat down next to Marnie. “Aneesa.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”  He looked at Marnie. “So, do you have your class list yet?”

“Yeah, I’ve got History of the World—Magic and Mortal, um, Magic Themes Using Classic Literature…” She laughed, lighting up her eyes. “You know, pretty normal college classes.”

Ethan nodded, about to ask when those classes were, but she interrupted. “So, what’s up with this no magic rule?”

“Ah, that’s new. Students used to be required to use magic in classes.”

“But that was when Witch University was for witches only,” Aneesa said, “No monsters or mummies, or genies allowed.” She smiled at the last one, quite proud of being at Witch University.

Marnie didn’t catch on to her friend’s mood. “When did it change?”

Anessa rolled her eyes, apparently thinking that the answer was obvious. “Last year.”

“Who’s the dork that changed it?”

Ethan and the genie looked at each other and sprung it on Marnie together. “You are.”

“Me?” the witch asked, surprised.

“When you opened the portal between the worlds permanently, a lot of kids from Halloweentown went off to college in the mortal world,” Ethan began.

“Why would they do that?”

He shrugged. “Why would anyone go off to college? To get away from mom and dad. Far away.”

“A world away,” Marnie muttered. Friction with her mom, then? He hadn’t seen that one coming. They were a close family.

“Witch University needed more students, so they opened enrollment to non-witches,” Aneesa finished, “That’s how I got in.” She finished with that victorious smile again.

Marnie smiled back, but with some disappointment.  “Well, I mean, it’s great, but why no magic?” She looked at Ethan, as if he knew everything.

As far as this was concerned, he almost did. The University had seen ‘Dalloway’ and sent him the ‘Info for Witches and Warlocks’ pamphlet with everything else. He’d looked it over in curiosity. “To level the academic playing field,” he told Marnie, almost quoting the pamphlet exactly.

“It wouldn’t be fair if witches could use magic to do coursework and the rest of us had to do it the old fashioned way,” the genie said.

“Yeah, but look around,” Marnie snapped, “Some of us aren’t following the rules.” She turned towards the warlocks. “The Sinister Sisters, those guys…they’re using magic.”

Her friend followed her gaze. “Yeah, but first they make sure no faculty member is watching.”

“That’s rule number two,” Ethan threw in, “You can do all the magic you want, just don’t get caught.”

Marnie nodded and started eating. “So, how is it so far? I know I’m a few weeks late.”

“Pretty good. I just had test on Macbeth this morning in Lit.”

“How is that class? I have it tomorrow.”

“Really?” Aneesa asked, “That’s my class.”

Ethan found himself disappointed by that act that Marnie didn’t have it in the morning instead.

“You’ll _love_ Professor Periwinkle,” Aneesa went on, “She’s a great old witch. Make sure you do all the reading, though.”

“And make sure you start before nine o’clock the night before the test,” Ethan added.

Marnie laughed, and he wished she would do it again. “Is this experience talking?”

“Last night’s. What else do you have?”

“History of the World—Magic and Mortal tomorrow, and Wednesday, and Thursday.”

“That one just started this week. The new professor was a little late,” Ethan said, “Have to check my schedule again to see when I’ve got it.”

 “I need to check that, too,” Aneesa said, “I transferred all my history credits here, but apparently the new professor’s not taking them.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Marnie sighed. “At least everything else seems pretty standard. College Math Wednesday and Thursday, and Theory of Magic on Wednesday. No Friday classes.”

“Yeah, the professors are pretty lazy,” Ethan said, “You’ll like it. Just watch out for pranks.”

“Not where she’s sleeping!” Aneesa pointed out the window to the castle. “They gave her the one with the stained glass windows.”

Ethan blinked in surprise. “What’d you do to get that?” he asked Marnie.

She shrugged. “Full scholarship? I have no idea. Dr. Goodwin really seems to care about how I do here.” Huh. Ethan filed that away. Hopefully Goodwin was just looking out for the school’s prestige.

“She is chancellor,” Aneesa said, “And you have done a lot of big things.”

Marnie shrugged modestly. “I guess.” She looked down at her mostly empty plate. “What time is it?”

Ethan maneuvered so he could get a good look at the weirdly placed cafeteria clock. “Almost one.”

Marnie looked up, panicked. “Aneesa, we have to go!”

“Don’t hurry too fast, Marnie,” Aneesa told the witch as they got up, “It’s not good on a full stomach!”

“Bye, Ethan!” Marnie shouted over her shoulder.

“See you around!” he called back before they went through the door.

At least he could talk to her, and his stomach had stopped doing back flips.

Now it was full of a legion of fireflies.


	3. Chapter 3

(1st week of Sept., Tuesday)

 “Dude, how many books do you have?” Ethan asked, staring in wonder at Dylan Piper’s room. He’d run into Marnie’s brother on the way to his class. Dylan was still moving in, and for good reason. “Don’t even bother to go to the library; I think you’ve got all the ones you need.”

“That was the idea.” Dylan shut his magically expanded suitcase and carried the last pile of books over to a table.

“Why?”

“If I use magic to study, I’ll have more free time.”

“And they can’t catch you if they don’t see you.” Ethan scanned the titles in the nearest pile. _The Mechanics of Arcane Physics_? _Time and Magic_? These looked like advanced study books, way beyond what Dylan had the prerequisites for.

“Exactly.”

“And you’ll do what with the extra time?” Ethan asked, staring at a book called _Pulling the Strings: What the String Theory Could Mean for the Future of Magic_. He shook his head.  “What are you majoring in, anyway?”

"Physics, right now, but the admissions office said it could be Arcane Physics after I talk to the right professors.” The unbending and bizarre rules of how magic worked. Dylan would be into that. There was lots of math. “And I’m going to start going out with Scarlet Sinister with my free time.”

Ethan’s head came around so quickly that he might have given himself whiplash. “You asked her out?”

“Not yet.” The younger man moved the books Ethan was looking at to a shelf. “But I will.”

“Don’t do it, dude.”

“Why? Have you _seen_ the Sinister girls?”

“They’re evil. Used a silencing spell on a friend of mine this morning, among other things.”

Dylan looked at Ethan like he was deaf. “Have you _seen_ them?”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “Apparently not. Listen, if you’re going to try for them, just be careful. They’ve got pretty strict standards about who they date. And every guy who’s dated them in the last two weeks has been burned pretty bad. Sometimes literally.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He pulled out a pen and notebook from his desk. “What are their standards?”

Ethan stared for a minute. “No way. I have a History class to get to. Good luck and be careful. And don’t get caught for the magic thing.”

“Oh, come one, Ethan! Hasn’t a girl ever just stood out to you, like the north star or a lighthouse?” Ethan shut the door as he left, not liking the question or the bad attempt at poetry. He hurried to class, crossing the commons with Dylan’s question on his heels.

People were still filtering in when he got there. He found a seat in the front row just as Marnie and Anessa appeared in the doorway. He waved them over, getting a smile from Marnie that made his heart skip a beat.

Her and Anessa sat down right next to him. Marnie opened her mouth to say something, but someone cleared their throat very loudly and silenced all conversation.

A graying man dressed like one of the old Dalloway family portraits came stalking in, walking with measured, authoritative strides. “My name is Doctor Ichabod Grog,” he said, coming to stand up at the front of the class, “You will address me as sir or Doctor Grog. Not Grog, Dr. G, G-dog, or G-unit.” Ethan stifled a smile at those words coming out of the mouth of an old family portrait. Maybe the front of the class wasn’t such a good place to sit.

Grog walked around to his old lectern. “On the desk before you, you will find a single sheet of paper. I require an essay to ascertain your familiarity with the entire history of the worlds, both mortal and magical.” He was smiling sadistically. “You may begin.”

The entire history of two worlds. On a single sheet of paper. Just write small, he guessed.

‘ _On the banks of the Euphrates River, in what is now the mortal nation of Iraq..._ ’

 

* * *

 

An hour and a half later, Ethan was out, but Marnie wasn’t.

“What do you think is keeping her?” he asked Aneesa out on the commons, “It’s one sheet of paper; Marnie is faster than that.”

“Well, Scarlet Sinister did use magic to finish her essay, so maybe she somehow pinned it on Marnie. They don’t seem to like her.”

He did remember Scarlet walking past him about ten minutes into the essay and not walking back. She could have pulled a really simple hex on Marnie’s work without anyone noticing. “I’m going to go look for Marnie.”

“She’s not going to be happy, you know, if Scarlet did something to her work. _Really_ not happy.”

“I know.” He waved and headed for the staircase that led to Grog’s classroom.

She would be so pissed, whatever Scarlet had done. Marnie had a Cromwell temper, all fire and light, and she couldn’t act on it now.

Ethan spotted Kelli, his hallway’s resident pink-haired witch, and asked for her to conjure some flowers—he had a plan to cheer Marnie up. Kelli raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but summoned a bouquet without a word.

He heard Marnie as she came down the staircase furiously.

“I can’t believe it,” she was saying to herself, “Scarlet did that. I should make her disappear.”

“Maybe she’s just jealous,” Ethan told her, coming up to her side. She gave him a confused look. “You were ranting.”

“Why in the world would Scarlet Sinister be jealous of me?”

The girl had to be blind and deaf not to know the answer to that. Ethan stopped in a more barren part of the hallway. “Look.” He glanced left and right, then pulled the bouquet from behind his back, presenting it to Marnie.

She smiled again, her bad mood gone. “Ethan, that’s so sweet.” He wanted her to smile forever. She reached for the flowers—

“Marnie Piper,” the magical loudspeaker boomed, shaking the building. Ethan took a deep breath and ordered himself to be patient. “You are wanted in the chancellor’s office.” One last furious shake made both of them wince, and Marnie let go of the flowers entirely. “ _Now_.”

“All righty then,” she said nervously, starting to the chancellor’s office, leaving Ethan standing there with the bouquet. She smiled over her shoulder apologetically.

Ethan sighed. Somehow he didn’t see Marnie coming back from Goodwin’s office anytime soon. He headed for his room.

“Hey, Ethan, how’d the flower thing go?” Leona asked as he walked through the commons. Kelli giggled by her side.

“Well, until the building started shaking and calling her to the office in a loud booming voice.”

“Sucks. Anyway, the troll with the unpronounceable name said to pass this one to you.” She handed him a letter with a Witch U seal on it. “Now tell us what it says.”

Ethan rolled his eyes and broke the seal. “’Dear Ethan Dalloway, you have been selected for a special class taking place at three PM in the lower south corridor of the castle. Sincerely, Dr. Goodwin.’”

“Aw, Ethan, we always knew you were special,” Kelli said.

“If not exactly in a positive way,” Leona added, “It’s about three now. Have fun.”

Ethan waved goodbye as the two began to whisper and undoubtedly hatch some sort of ominous female plot. He kept on his path until he was in the castle, and then began hunting for the lower south corridor.

There weren’t any signs for it, which was weird. He didn’t like where this was going. Unmarked hallways were not good things, generally speaking. In the end, he found it from the noise of the others.

The Sinister Sisters stood looking disdainfully at a stone wall that marked the end of the hall while everyone else chatted in confusion. Ethan came up to the front, trying to see if this was an illusion or something like that. Nope. Solid wall.

“Good, the class is all here,” Goodwin said, coming up behind them all with Marnie.

“But, uh, no classroom,” Ethan said, gesturing at the giant wall.

Goodwin just smiled and raised her hand. “Adapario perplexio!”

Magic burned the wall away with a crack and screaming sort of sound, making the whole class wince. Goodwin walked into the revealed, debris-filled room. “This is the old castle dungeon. It’s usually off limits, but this year we’ve selected a few of you for a very special educational opportunity.” The class filtered into the room. Ethan stood next to Marnie as she stared down into a deep dark hole in the ground. Something bright pulsed down there. “You will spend the next semester unearthing the treasures of a millennium of Halloweentown history buried beneath his castle. Three quarters of your grade will be based on your personal discoveries here.” That was infinitely more interesting than the pulsing thing and everyone looked towards Goodwin. “You will be supervised in your work by our own expert in all things historical, Dr. Ichabod Grog.”

“The fossil himself,” Marnie told Ethan. He smirked slightly, until he noticed the shadow at the edge of his vision. The Sinister Sisters snickered. “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

Ethan nodded with a grimace. “Yeah.”

Grog didn’t say anything about the comment. “A thousand years ago, this school was built on the ruins of Miss Piper’s ancestral home, CromwellCastle.” He turned around, magically sweeping eons of dust off a block of stone to reveal the name ‘Cromwell’ engraved on it. “I will instruct you all in the manual arts of archeological recovery and identification.”

Goodwin smiled at all, but looked specifically at Marnie. “I expect great things.” She left without further ado, giving Marnie one last nod.

“Please gather around,” Grog said.

Marnie leaned forward to peer into the pit. Ethan turned around to get a better sense of his surroundings. This was one creepy old place. They meant dungeon when they said it.

Ethan turned at the sound of falling shale to see Scarlet Sinister taunting Marnie. “You must be so curious what’s down there.”

“What?” Marnie asked.

“What?” Scarlet mimicked, “Priceless family heirlooms. Buried treasure.” Ethan watched, hoping Marnie wouldn’t fall for the trick. She wasn’t stupid, but who wouldn’t be curious?

“I’m just here to learn, like everybody else,” Marnie snapped.

“Oh, but we’re not like everyone else. You heard what Goodwin said. What we find here determines out grade. But we’re witches. We have powers.”

“Which would be unfair to use.” Good old Marnie.

“What’s unfair is having our magic bottled up like this.” Scarlet gave a wicked grin. “I don’t know about you, but my fingers are just itching to zap some nasty old Cromwell antiques out of that hole.” And she did, pulling up some dusty old skull. How Grog didn’t notice, Ethan had no idea.

“Ew,” Scarlet commented, but then she went on to play the interested student. “Dr. Grog, look what I found.” She pranced her way to the head of the class while everyone looked on with disgust.

Marnie looked down into the hole again. The ground suddenly gave a jolt, throwing her off balance. Ethan reached for her. Falling down that hole would not be fun. She straightened, though, before she needed his help.

A box rose out of the hole on a column of light, twirling as if unbalanced, and came to rest in Marnie Piper’s hands. She sat there and stared at it. “S. Cromwell?” she asked before Grog snatched the box from her.

“Gadzooks,” the man muttered. He dusted off the box, looking it over. “How do I open it?”

“Use a key?” Marnie suggested.

“Where is the key?”

“Don’t look at me.” Grog glared at her, the accusation plain in his eyes. Marnie had apparently used magic, serious magic, in class.

“Class dismissed. We will pick this up again on Friday, at the same time,” Grog announced with angry finality.

Marnie was the first one out. It took Ethan a bit of work to catch up with her. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t let them to get to you, alright? None of them.”

She nodded. “I know. It’s just...I want so much out of this place, and it’s not going good so far.”

“It’ll be fine once you get used to it.”

“Thanks. I’m going to find somewhere quiet and fume about the day if I can. See you tomorrow.”

“Don’t fume too long. It’s not healthy.”

“I won’t, don’t worry.” She walked off to somewhere quiet. Ethan stayed rooted to the spot for no particular reason, wishing very badly that he could make it all better.

 To hell with it all; he _did_ have it bad for Marnie Piper.


	4. Chapter 4

(2nd week of Sept., Friday)

“—except your grandma forgot to tell me one thing.”

“What?”

“Dragons can talk.”

Marnie stopped in mid-shovel, smiling in wicked anticipation. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yeah,” Ethan said, dumping another sifted pile of dirt into the wheelbarrow, “So, I get to the cave with no problems and try to sneak up on the dragon, and before I know it, she—it was a she—has me pinned under a claw and is informing me of her policies on intruders. There were lots of details.”

“So how did you get away?”

“I didn’t.” Marnie cocked her head in confusion. “She gives me this…analytical look, then asks if I would like to stay for dinner. I thought I knew where that was going, but she really did mean for me to _have_ dinner, not be it.” He turned back to the pile of dirt Aneesa had given for them to shovel away. “She had a troll rock band there, so we danced, we sang, we ate baked goods. I got several hundred years of shed dragon scales for your grandma and had the weirdest fun ever.”

Marnie laughed. “Sounds like it. My summer was pretty tame.”

“Miss Piper, we are not here to chit-chat!” Grog snapped from the table where he was analyzing someone’s finds.

The young witch rolled her eyes and continued to shovel. Her, Aneesa, Ethan, and the ogre with the unpronounceable name (commonly called ‘Third) had decided to work together. After spending the first week of class explaining in detail what they should do, Grog insisted on having all dirt from their excavation sifted and then hauled away, and no one was going to take that job instead of doing the digging for the real grade-earners. He hadn’t said anything about groups or division of labor, though, so here they were, splitting their finds and taking turns at each task.

“Okay,” Aneesa said, “I’ve got one thing that might be an actual ring, I don’t know what that is, something that looks like a metal stake, and a chain, plus some more pieces of pottery.”

“All I’ve got is some kind of shackle,” ‘Third said from his shallow hole.

“I don’t think anyone’s doing any better,” Ethan said, looking around. The Sinister Sisters were using magic when Grog wasn’t looking, but only getting the usual torture instruments, bits of earthenware, and bones like everyone else.

“What kind of historical artifacts were they hoping we would find?” Marnie asked.

Aneesa looked up at her friend and shrugged. “Maybe something like a silver box.”

“I don’t think Grog’s going to let that count.” Marnie plunged the shovel into the dirt pile with unnecessary violence. “He still thinks I used magic to get it.”

“Well, if he does count it, will you share some of the points with us?” ‘Third asked. He was having it rough doing the actual excavation. Ethan had offered to take his place today, and not work with Marnie, but the ogre said he was going to play by their agreed-upon rules.

“Of course,” Marnie told him, “We had a deal.”

“Miss Piper! And the rest of the class, as well. This is serious work. If you are not talking about your findings, do not talk at all.” Grog gave a glare all around the dungeon.

The class quieted down, though murmurs of gossip and real life could still be heard. Marnie stewed, getting even more violent with the shovel.

“Take it easy,” Ethan whispered to her, “So what was your summer like?”

“Tame. Hanging out with friends, cleaning…we did send Sophie off to training with a big celebration. That was…” She grimaced suddenly. “Mostly fun.”

“Mostly? Magical mishap?”

“That would have been better. Cody, um, he broke up with me right after Sophie left.”

The mortal guy she’d been dating had willingly broke up with her? Idiot. “Oh.”

“I guess we’d just freaked him out too much. That flashy little party and Grandma’s stories were the last straw.” She shook her head. “I’m over it, it just hurts a little. I guess we didn’t really win the whole battle, after all.”

He knew he was supposed to comfort her. It was just really hard, because, well, Marnie was now unattached. “It was just him, Marnie. You can’t change everyone.”

“I know. I just sometimes wish I could.”

Grog drifted by, cutting off all conversation. Everyone covertly watched him as he completed a circuit of the students’ digs. He stopped in front of his desk. “Please clean up, students. Our time here is up. I leave you to your weekend.”

Everyone quickly gathered up their tools, happy to get out of this dusty old dungeon and into the autumn air outside. Grog stood over the tool kits, making sure they were all properly stashed before letting anyone go.

The girls collectively ran their fingers through their hair as they stepped outside of the castle. “It’s a good thing this is the last class of the day,” Aneesa commented as she attempted to brush herself off, “Want a ride, Marnie?”

Marnie stared at her jeans, which had once been blue. “That is a great idea.” She waved to Ethan and ‘Third. “See you guys later.” The two girls disappeared in a graceful column of smoke.

“That is a great trick,” ‘Third said, “Do you think I can get her to do something with it at the Anniversary Festival? We’re looking for entertainment.”

Ethan shrugged. “Ask her. I’m sure Aneesa would like to help.”

‘Third gave him a sly look, or something like one, anyway. “You know, you should ask Marnie out to the Festival. You guys really have something going there.”

“You think so?”

“Yep. I’ve got an audition to get to. We think we’ve found a good band. Do you want to come? My ear for music isn’t all that great.”

“Mr. Dalloway,” Goodwin called from nearby before he Ethan could answer. He turned to find her dressed as elegantly as usual and actually _outside_. She seemed out of place. “I’d like to speak to you.”

Ethan sighed and looked back at ‘Third. “Sorry.”

“No, I understand. See you around, I guess.”

“Bye.” Ethan walked reluctantly over to Goodwin as ‘Third went his own way. “Good afternoon, Dr. Goodwin.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Dalloway. Do you mind if we step inside?”

“Not at all.” He followed her to a nearby office. He waited patiently as she shut the door.

“I’ve noticed you’ve become good friends with Marnie Piper,” she began, “She is quite striking, isn’t she?”

That was a weird way to start and way too personal. “Excuse me?”

“I apologize. That was forward of me. You do know, of course, that it is very, very rare for a witch to develop a serious relationship with a non-warlock.”

“She’s done it before.”

“And it failed. I’m sure it’s occurred to her that it was his mortal nature that may have been the cause.”

Was she trying to tempt him? Make him join her little club, take up his father’s seat? “What do you want from me?”

Goodwin smiled in a congratulatory way. “We could always use more friends to our cause, Mr. Dalloway. And your father was one of the most esteemed friends.” Yeah, she was trying to tempt him. “I assure you that we can give you your powers back. I have tried to have relationships with mortal men, Mr. Dalloway, and their lack of magic was quite unattractive. That is how it is with witches.”

He remembered the snobbery among the crowd his father had run with. His heart nearly froze up; Goodwin had some kind of point. Maybe.

But Ethan Dalloway would not become his father. “We’ll see if Marnie’s like you, then, but not on your terms.”

“Very well. The offer still stands, however, should you ever feel otherwise.”

He wouldn’t, but he nodded anyways and left without a word. Ethan Dalloway would not become his father.

Marnie wouldn’t care anyway. She’d dated mortals before. She simply did not care about that sort of thing. He shoved all doubt of that fact to the very back of his mind.

He returned to his room thinking that he should have asked Marnie out for dinner. Aw, well; there was homework he needed to do.

The witch’s glass was ringing as he opened his door. Ethan snapped it open with a roll of blue eyes. And here he had been, hoping that Raymond had simply collapsed into a heap of bones over the week.

“Sir, we must start preparing for the annual Halloween Witch’s Ball.”

“What?” Witch’s Ball...what was…oh, right. He’d hated those. Arrogance and depressing clothes had always been the norm, while everyone else had been out celebrating in a fun way.

The skeleton plowed on. “Your father could not hold it last year due to the sad circumstances, but that does not mean we should not hold it this year. I’ve taken the liberty—”

“Whatever you did, cancel it. There isn’t going to be a Ball. Ever.”

“But sir, it is a tradition as old as Halloweentown. It should at least happen on the millennial anniversary.”

“It’s not going to.” He switched the topic. “Have you found a buyer for the mansion?”

“You cannot be thinking of selling your ancestors' home. I assumed it was merely a thought induced by some madcap college party antics.” Ethan was fairly sure that Raymond was attempting to pull an innocent expression.

Ethan had told the old fossil to find a buyer for the mansion before he’d left for college. Why couldn’t Benny be his butler? “I was serious. Look into the local powers, see if any of them want it.”

“Of course, sir.”

He always said that. Ethan was probably going to have to find a buyer himself over winter break. “Have a good weekend, Raymond,” he told the skeleton and shut the witch’s glass.

It had been a long weekend already and it was only Friday evening.


	5. Chapter 5

(3rd week of Sept., Wednesday)

Ethan found that Wednesdays sucked as a rule. A weekend couldn’t be further away in either direction, and you’d already done a lot of work with the same amount to look forward to.

Wednesdays were also the day he’d designated as ‘chore day’ since he’d given up his powers.  Ethan still had the traditional warlock’s distaste for manual labor of any kind, so the routine served to dull that. Kind of.

Fortunately, the only chore Ethan ever really found necessary to do was laundry.

He whistled as he carried his laundry bag down several flights of stairs to the laundry room, an unpleasant place at best. There were all sorts of creatures at WitchUniversity, some with really potent body odor and others who found dryers a fun form of entertainment. Plus, the warlocks and witches liked to throw a hex on something there at least once a month.

He pushed the door open. Well, they hadn’t tried to jinx the entrance again, anyway…

And would you look at that. Marnie Piper, doing her laundry and looking like a princess out of a fairy tale.

“—and man, does it need washing!” she declared loudly as he entered, shutting a washer. He stopped across from her, ready to say hi.  “Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?” she asked with a teasing lilt.

“Yes, Marnie.” He held up his laundry bag. ”You’ve spotted the elusive guy doing his own laundry.” They smiled at each other.

“A rare creature, indeed.” She set to work, grimacing at her basket full of dirty clothes. The excavation hadn’t been kind to anyone’s wardrobe.

He suddenly had an idea. He sat his bag down and leaned over the washers to her. “So, uh, you want to just zap this stuff clean and—” something simple— “Go get a cup of coffee with me?”

She seemed to seriously think about it... “I was just accused of using magic when I didn’t, I’m not about to be accused of using magic when I did.”

Ethan blanked at the long sentence, and decided to be brave. He shrugged, walking over to her. “I have no idea what you just said, but, uh, you looked really cute saying it.”

She looked a little embarrassed, but came back very quickly. “Why don’t you just use your magic?” There was something in her eyes that dragged him in.

He shot her a confused look. “What magic would that be?”

There was that thing was in her eyes again. “You know.”

They stared at each other for a moment in silence, Marnie wanted him to understand something, Ethan trying damned hard to understand it. “We’re not talking about laundry anymore, are we?” he asked.

She smiled winningly.

“Marnie Piper,” the building boomed, shaking. A piece of plaster fell ominously between Ethan and Marnie. “Meet the Chancellor at the dig site.”

“Sorry,” Marnie said as things resettled, turning to leave.

“The Chancellor really needs to get a cell phone,” he told her, leaning on the washers, just…really, really, really disappointed. Ethan had never before seriously considered murder, but Goodwin was looking like a prime candidate.

She turned around before she left the room. “Rain check on the coffee?”

He pointed at her. “And the magic.”

They exchanged one last smile before she rushed off, leaving Ethan to his—and her—laundry. He opened the washer she’d been at, seeing what she’d left…there was nothing there. Weird.

He looked after Marnie, wishing she’d come back and explain. And be back here, with him. She would have made the chore easier just by being there.

 

* * *

 

 

“Why do you have a girl’s laundry?” Dylan asked as soon as he opened his door.

“It’s your sister’s. She got called away two hours ago, and it’s not a good idea to leave stuff in the laundry room.”

“So you want me to watch over it? Do you have any idea how not cool it looks to be babysitting your sister’s dirty clothes?”

Ethan actually had no idea, being an only child. “Why does it matter? Did you get Scarlet into your room?”

Dylan’s eyes got wide as he processed the idea. Ethan backed up. He had never spoken with someone so deeply in lust before, and it was a little disgusting, especially when it was lust for an evil snake. “No,” Dylan snapped when he regained himself, “Just give me Marnie’s laundry.” Ethan held out the basket and Dylan snatched it away, dropping it unceremoniously on his floor.

“Take it easy, dude,” Ethan said.

Dylan heaved a deep breath and returned to normal. “Yeah. I’ve just never had a crush this bad. I see how they are, but they’re so _themselves_.”

Ethan wondered if the triplets were using some kind of charm, but that didn’t make any sense or he would have been dragged under like Dylan and most of the warlocks. Maybe it was just because he wasn’t a warlock.

Or maybe it was just because this was just Dylan’s reaction to being really away from home and free to run his own life.  “Be careful,” Ethan said. He was sure no one could talk Dylan out of his crazed crush. Hopefully Dylan remembered the warning.

“I can handle it. I’ll get Marnie her stuff as soon as I can. See you around.”

“Yeah.” Dylan shut the door without further ceremony and Ethan went back to his room. He had another paper to write, several chapters to read, and probably a waiting Raymond to answer.

What he really wanted to be doing was going out with Marnie, but he couldn’t seem to find her.

Ethan passed Leona and the vampire Vlad chatting in the hall. “Remember Operation October,” Leona told him.

“Right,” he replied absently with a casual wave. Now, Goodwin’s death probably needed to look like an accident…


	6. Chapter 6

(4th week of Sept., Sunday)

“Why are we digging through the archives for Marnie _without Marnie_?” Aneesa asked.

Ethan shrugged, setting a load of Cromwell-related books on the table. “I don’t even know why she wants them.”

“It is her family.”

“Yeah.” He shifted through the books. The Cromwells had been literary types, apparently; it looked like more than half of these had been written by a member of the family. “I just don’t get the whole family thing.”   

Aneesa gave him a puzzled look. “No? The Dalloway family is one of those old ones with all sorts of history, I thought.”

“It is. There’s a library I own that has books on everything everyone in my family has ever done in it.”

“Come on, that has to be pretty interesting. My parents would love those kind of records. All we have is an old legend about my grandpa and Aladdin.”

Ethan shrugged, sorting out the books. “I grew up with it. My dad made sure that I was always a Dalloway before anything else. You know that story.”

“Not entirely, I think.”

He looked up at her. That was a slip he hadn’t meant to make. Might as well tell and be done with it. “I helped my dad until the very end. And then I chose to be stuck with everyone else.”

Aneesa came around the book shelves, staring at him in shock. “You chose to hurt Marnie? You decided to help him leave all those people in a world they didn’t know and take the Cromwell magic, which he was probably going to use to take over Halloweentown? You _helped_ him?”

“Yes.”

She shook her head in wonder. “And you see her here and try to sweep her off her feet.”

Ethan looked her in the eye, trying to will her to understand. “It was my _Dad_ , Aneesa. I regret every minute of it. I can’t tell you how much I regret it.”

“If you hurt Marnie, I’m sure I can come up with some very interesting and unpleasant things to do to you.”

“If I hurt Marnie, go for it.”

That spurred a thoughtful look. In typical fashion, an authority figure—Grog, this time— suddenly barged in.

Grog turned around, surveying the library. “Why is this archive a mess?” he asked the two students.

Aneesa handed him a permission slip. “It’s a research project.”

“It is addressed to Miss Piper.”

“But we’re working with Marnie,” Ethan said, “You see us all together in your archeology class.”

“I see,” Grog said in a tone that indicated he might not, “Mr. Dalloway, would you come with me.”

At least they were almost done. He gave Aneesa a confused look and followed Grog to an isolated grotto in the main library.

“We found something of yours at the dig site,” Grog began.

Ethan’s brow furrowed. “Really?” He rarely took anything down there. “What?”

“An item of belonging to the Dalloway family.” A small ring appeared in the air, hovering in front of Ethan. “It appears to be a woman’s ring, very slim. The Dalloway ‘D’ is very prominent on the front, red, in a medieval style of script. The rest of the ring is gold, as you can tell.”

It was like several dozen other things he had seen back at the estate. “Yeah.”

“It is very curious that we found it at the dig site,” Grog continued, “It suggests that some member of the Dalloway family was here a thousand years ago.”

“In the dungeon.”

Grog gave a cold smile. “Perhaps. The area was also something of a treasure vault, where visiting witches and warlocks would put their valuables before leaving the castle. This ring would have numbered among such items.” The man grabbed the ring and held it out to Ethan. “We’ve already given Miss Piper possession of her family’s heirloom, so I do not know why yours cannot be returned to its proper owner.”

Ethan took the offered ring. “Um, thank you. Is there anything else?”

“Nothing at all. I merely wanted you to have this evidence of your family’s involvement in Halloweentown’s ancient history. Perhaps there is more at the dig site, but it will be impossible to tell unless we search further.”

There seemed like there should be more to that answer, like it should be blatantly suggesting something, but it actually sounded like stuffy old Grog being a history nut. Ethan looked at the simple little ring. There was some graceful metalwork, but nothing too ornate. The big fancy red ‘D’ was the only truly noticeable thing about it. “I’ll remember that.”

“Please do.” Grog’s head shot up at something Ethan couldn’t hear. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend.” He disappeared in a flash of golden light.

Ethan headed back towards Aneesa. The genie looked up from one of the books when he came in. “What was that about?”

“Archeology.” She stared as if she didn’t believe him. “I’m serious.”

"If you say so. He _would_ be the nasty old teacher who actually cares about his subject.” She abandoned the book. “I have homework I need to do for tomorrow. Tell Marnie I said hi when she gets here.” Aneesa waved as a column of purple smoke swept her away.      

Ethan sighed and looked around. He played with the ring in one hand, thinking.

Marnie had said to take off when the sorting was done, and Leona and Kelli and Vlad and their friends had invited him to dinner and a movie....and he had no homework. Considering the number of books they’d found, Marnie would probably be a while.

He’d collect on that rain check next week, though.


	7. Chapter 7

(1st week of October)

The one with the stained glass windows was hers. That’s what Aneesa had said a month ago.

“Hey, Rapunzel!” Ethan shouted up.

Marnie appeared at her window, smiling. The windows suited her. ”Too bad,” she said, “I just cut my hair.”

“How’s the studying going?”

“I wasn’t studying.” She rolled her eyes at herself. “I was doodling.”

“Popular class, doodling.”

“Yes, it’s very difficult. Dexterity and all that.”

Ethan nodded. “Think you can take a doodling break tonight? Say, like eight o’clock?”

She mock grimaced. “I don’t know. I have a doodle final on Monday.” He listened attentively. “But…okay.”

His heart had a sudden fireworks show and the fireflies in his stomach went on an overjoyed rampage. “Great.” He waved goodbye with a handful of books. “I’ll see you tonight, then.” He caught one last smile of hers before he turned around.

 

* * *

 

The witch’s glass rang. Ethan opened it (“Not now”), shut it, and threw it across the room.

When he actually got down to thinking about it, he didn’t know what specifically Marnie would like to do. Town Square factored into his plans as he stumbled into them, but it was a long walk. A cab ride with Benny didn’t seem a good idea for this kind of thing.

He stared at the corner of his room for a very long time until he realized what he had been staring at: the broom his dad had given him right before things had spiraled out control. It was very nice broom, decorated with metal wire shaped like vines. He’d kept it because his dad had simply _given_ it to him for no apparent reason, which had never happened before.

Marnie would like it. And Marnie would love flying, because everyone loved flying.

So it was give Marnie the broom, fly to Town Square, eat something there, walk around for a little while. It was going to be a good night.

He hid the broom in the trees near the castle around seven, long after all necessary studying had been done. The light was still on in Marnie’s windows, and Ethan wondered if she was still studying for her doodling final.

He checked everything in the mirror around eight and headed on down, nervous and happy. Marnie could be spotted sitting on a bench as he neared. Ethan resisted the desire to shout out; he’d surprise her instead.

Kelli came trotting up the stairs, probably off on some errand for Leona’s devious plans. “Hi, Kelli,” he said.

“Hey.” She glanced at the girl on the bench and winked at him, all without stopping.

Marnie was too lost in thought to hear him walk around behind her. He pivoted around to face her, at which point she noticed him. “Hey,” she said, getting up with a smile.

“Hey.”

She laughed. “I thought we were past that.”

“We are, definitely.” He led her towards where he had the broom hidden.

“So…it’s a beautiful night.”

“Yeah. Perfect for flying, right?” He snapped his fingers. “Too bad we don’t have a broom.”

“Yeah. I love flying. It’s my favorite thing about being a witch.”

And here they were. “Mine, too.” He touched her on the shoulder, making sure she waited, and walked around to get the broom from where he’d hidden it.

She smiled as he held it up for her, clearly loving the thing. “Ethan, it’s beautiful.”

“It was a gift from my Dad from before.”

“We couldn’t, could we?” She was itching to fly. He could see her hands nearing the broom, ready to make it soar.

“Technically we would be off campus.” He raised his eyebrows.

Marnie grinned like trouble. “Right.”

Ethan held the broom up for her. “You first.”

She laid her hands on it and the thing came to life, sprouting a handle bar and foothold as if the vines on it were actually alive. She took her seat at his gesture and turned around to him. “Get on.”

“I don’t know…” He knew full well she could fly well, but it was just too much fun to tease her.

Marnie rolled her eyes. “Bawk-bawk-bawk,” she clucked, flapping her free arm like a wing.

He raised his hands in surrender. “Alright.” He sat behind her, putting his arm around her waist to make sure he stayed on. She was so warm. “I’m going to regret this.”

She didn’t say anything, just took off. “Hold on.”

This maybe hadn’t been the best place to take off. Way too much between them and the sky.  “Tree, tree, tree!” Ethan warned as he ducked, crouching a little closer to Marnie.

She turned around with a wild grin. “I got it.”

The broom swooped up towards the highest part of the castle. It was a way better sight then it was from the ground, with the towers all lit up for the night. He peered around at Marnie as she laughed. She turned around to see him and laughed louder. “Hey, look at that.” He looked, didn’t see whatever had struck her, but it didn’t matter. He loved this. He loved her laugh and the smell of her hair and the feel of her in front of him. They could fly around like this forever.

Ethan let go of her as they neared the edge of the campus and stretched out his arms to balance on the broom. Marnie laughed hysterically, making Ethan do the same. He had to cling back to her in order to stay on.

They descended in Town Square, which was quietly active. It was Friday night, after all, and the first weekend of October. Some creatures could be seen putting decorations up. It was going to be an awesome celebration come Halloween.

“Wow, that was great,” Ethan said when their feet touched the ground. He looked around. “How about some ice cream?”

“Sure, that sounds great.” They stepped off the broom, putting it up with a bunch of others on the public broom rack and headed over to the ice cream shop.

“That is a really good broom. The balance was perfect,” Marnie said, “They’re expensive anyway, but that one must have cost a lot.”

Ethan held the door open for her. “Glad you liked it.” He was going to give it to her at the end of the night for sure, now.

An iceman waiter gestured for them to take a seat when they entered. It looked like a busy night—apparently popular date spot. Ethan hoped Marnie didn’t mind clichés.

“So,” he said as they sat down, “What do you think of Witch U now you’ve been here a month?”

“You were right.” Ethan gave her a victorious grin. “Don’t start. Aneesa was the same way when I told her I was happy here!”

“And if I do start? What are you going to do to me, Miss Piper?”

That thing in her eyes from Wednesday was there again. “I’ll let it be mysterious, so you’ll tremble in dread at the unknown,” she teased.

The iceman skated over before they could continue this conversation. “Can I take your order?” he asked.

Marnie looked over at the menu posted on the wall. “Um, I’ll have an Artic Blue Banana Split.”

“Same here,” Ethan said. The waiter nodded and skated off, looking coolly hurried. “Maybe I should have picked someplace less busy.”

“No, this is great. I haven’t been off campus since I got here, really.”

Ethan was surprised. Marnie Piper, lover of Halloweentown, hadn’t explored since she got here? “You should definitely look around this month. The Millennial Celebration is going to be everywhere all October.”

“And the big one’s a Witch U,” Marnie said, “Do you have any plans then?”

 “I do have a daydreaming final the day after…” She kicked him lightly, giggling. “Ow. Hey, fair is fair.”

The waiter came back with their banana splits and breathed a thing layer of blue ice on them before putting them on the table. “Thanks,” Marnie said.

“You’re welcome.”

Ethan gave the iceman a nod, watching Marnie start digging in. “Quite the appetite. I like that in a girl.”

“Thanks for getting me out.”

“Somebody needed to save you from all that doodling.”

“Yeah.” She stopped eating and looked thoughtful. “I’ve been kind of obsessed with that box in Grog’s class.” Something behind Ethan caught her attention and her mouth set into a grim line. “Great.” Ethan turned with a sense of foreboding.

The Sinister Sisters were forcing Dylan into a seat, giving him silly compliments and being very close. They laid books before him like offerings. Ethan looked over at Marnie. If looks could kill, the Sinister Sisters would have died a thousand times already.

Marnie got up, all protective familial business. “Marnie, wait,” Ethan said. Dylan had decided on this, and Dylan was going to have to handle it. She couldn’t make them stop, and he wanted to do it anyway! Let them get bored, let him learn a lesson.

She stopped next to Scarlet. “Get away from my brother!”

“No!” Dylan shouted, “Don’t get away.” Then the conversation got quiet, vicious, and tense. Ethan sighed. He heard a few more shouts on Marnie’s part, increasingly irate. This was going to end badly. He found himself with a hit list these days. Goodwin, the Sinister Sisters…Dylan was a serious candidate at the moment…

The trio took off, Dylan on their heels with a full backpack and a ton of books. Marnie looked back at Ethan apologetically and chased after her brother. Ethan stood, paid quickly, and followed her. Dylan was definitely on the hit list.

Ethan and Marnie came through the door to find no trace of the Sinister Sisters of Dylan. “How could they disappear that fast?” Ethan asked.

Marnie huffed. “Witches.”

He looked around, desperate for something to calm her down. She marched off towards the broom. “Marnie, wait.”

"They could be casting another spell on Dylan as we speak,” she said, taking the broom down.

“And make him do what? More math? He loves math.”

She mounted the broom and looked at him, not paying attention to what he’d said. “Are you coming or not?”

Ethan sighed and got on the broom. It was going to be a long night, and it had started out so well. They would probably be hunting Dylan until sunrise.

The broom bucked as they left Town Square. “Whoa!” Ethan shouted, “What’s going on?”

The motion got more violent. “I don’t know what’s happening!” Marnie’s voice was strained. “Something’s not right!”

“What do you mean not right?”

The broom jolted hard to one side, throwing them off. They both managed to catch hold of it before they fell. The broom began to descend rapidly through the tress, now without even a semblance of control.

They let go once they were near the ground, tumbling hard into the grass. Ethan stood first, helping Marnie up. “Hello, landing gear,” he said, getting a stressed laugh from her.

“Sorry, I don’t know what happened.”

Ethan looked around, spotting the broom. “There it is.” He approached it to see what the matter was. Flying brooms were delicate works of magic; one slightly scratched rune could ground you.

The broom started to glow suddenly, shrinking and writhing. “Wait!” Marnie shouted. Ethan drew back as the thing lunged at him with a hiss before it slithered off. “I can’t believe it!”

“Broom’s a snake,” Ethan said, mostly to himself. Snakes meant the Sinisters.

Marnie realized it, too. She turned towards him, angry and indignant. “Scarlet jinxed our broom!”

“I think she set us up. I mean, she knew where we’d be, she knew we’d have my broom…”

“You mean she’s spying on us?”

No, too much dirty work in that for a Sinister triplet. “Or somebody’s doing it for her.” Something was very wrong in this. Marnie looked worried. Ethan decided to make the best of a bad situation. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand and leading her to the path.

“What are you doing?”

He gestured to the sky. “Taking a moonlit walk with a beautiful girl.” He gestured to her as she blushed and began pulling leaves out of her hair. “It’s a long way back to campus.”

“We just crash landed on a broom that grew a forked tongue,” Marnie informed him matter-of-factly, “How can you be so calm?”

He shrugged. “Having a near-death experience is strangely comforting.”

She rolled her eyes, but gripped his hand more firmly. They were silent for a while like that, just walking back home. Very different from the rush they’d gotten above the castle, but just as nice.

They were on the commons when Marnie reached up and smoothed his hair down, more or less. “Your hair is always changing,” she commented.

Ethan had no idea what she was talking about. “It is?”

“You wear it in different styles almost every day.”

He did, in fact, do that; he’d just never thought about it before. “Man, I have some weird habits.”

She laughed. “I kind of like that one. Just don’t do anything too outrageous.”

He stopped in front of the castle, smiling at her. “I like it when you laugh. When you smile.”

Marnie turned to face him, blushing again. “And I like you.”

Ethan started to close the distance between them tentatively. Marnie drew back suddenly, dropping the hand she still held. “Oh my God, I forgot about Dylan.” She started to run up the steps. “It was a really great time, Ethan!”

He heaved a deep breath as the big doors closed on her. “Yeah, it was.”

If he killed Dylan, Marnie would be extremely upset. He swore that was the only thing stopping him right now.


	8. Chapter 8

(1st week of October, Friday)

"And may I just say, I am so privileged to be a citizen of this great big magical world of ours.” ‘Third started to tear up. “Oh, man. I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry.”

A chorus of sympathy ran through the crowd and an elf ran up to give the ogre a tissue.  Ethan used the rather loud pause to come up the front near Aneesa, rubbing his shoulder. He’s strained something a bit in that fall.

“Are you okay? “Aneesa asked.

“Oh, yeah.” He made a sweeping motion with his uninjured arm. “Just got swept off my feet last night.”

Aneesa nodded with a knowing glance. She turned suddenly and Ethan followed her gaze to the Sinister Sisters with Ethan in tow. “Why doesn’t Marnie cast a spell to stop Scarlet?” she asked.

“She can’t. It’s the one power witches don’t have: they can’t completely control somebody else.”

“But the Sinister Sisters’ spell is _controlling_ Dylan.”

Yeah, it was magic for sure, at least now. Dylan looked like an overburdened pack animal, even carrying a pencil in his mouth. He wouldn’t stoop that low without someone throwing him down there. “Well, not really. They can’t make him do something he’d never do. Their spell just amplifies Dylan’s own desires. He’s doing what he wants to, he just can’t stop.” It really was a pathetic sight.

“I can’t watch,” Marnie said, coming up next to Ethan. He touched her lightly on the back in comfort. She smiled at him in thanks, then turned to where ‘Third was talking about the upcoming celebration.

“So who wants to be the first volunteer?” the ogre asked, drooling quite bit. He’d mentioned food a couple moments ago. “Uh, Marnie Piper!” He pointed her out.

Marnie gestured to herself, shaking her head and looking surprised. Ethan smirked and gently pushed her forward. She went, but not without throwing him a small glare.

‘Third picked several other people out of the audience. Ethan managed to avoid detection, as did Aneesa. They’d both help, of course, but being in charge of something just seemed like more work.

“Half of you have decorations,” ‘Third said, pointing to a half that didn’t include Marnie, “And the rest of you have food. All entertainers will take care of their own equipment, so that leaves it up us to provide for the most awesome celebration Halloweentown has ever seen! I will see you all the six o’clock meeting tonight.”

Marnie managed to track down Ethan before he could sneak away. “You know I’m going to get you for that.”  

“I’m not the one who called you out of the crowd. All you’ll have to do is vote on what flavor of cake they’ll have.” He paused a moment, as if in thought. “Though it might cut down on the time you have for studying for that doodling class.”

She rolled her eyes. “Or the time I have to break that spell on Dylan. I can’t believe they did that. How could anyone do that to anyone else?”

Ethan shrugged. “They’re the Sinister Sisters. You know he wants to do this, anyway. They’ll get bored with him sooner or later and quit.” Probably. They were Goodwin’s favorites, and that had begun to bother him. But it was too much of a stretch right now. Marnie wouldn’t believe any of it, anyway. She thought the world of Goodwin.

“Yes, but…”

 “You know, we still haven’t had that coffee.”

“He’s my brother, Ethan. I’m going to get some reading done, see if there’s any way to get through to him with magic.” She turned on heel towards the library.

He grabbed her arm before she could leave. “Think of it as a break, just right before Grog’s class.”

She was silent for a bit, clearly worried as hell. “Okay. See you around two, then.” She left another word for the library.

Ethan sighed and turned towards his big Friday class. He wished there was something he could do about this. Neither sibling was going to listen to him or anyone else…

He nearly ran over Scarlet Sinister as he entered the building. She gave him a steady glare as he excused himself and continued on his way. “So how’d that little date of yours go?” she asked, “No problems?”

Ethan looked back to find her eyeing her nails in a self-satisfied way. “What did Marnie ever do to you to get that?”

Scarlet shrugged. “She got in my way. Besides, the idea of you trying to play hero against a _magical_ foe was entertaining.” She glanced at him. “You know you can’t defend her. Or help her. She’s a witch. You’re a mortal. It doesn’t work out. So get out of the way.”

Ethan shook his head and went to class. He heard Scarlet laugh lightly and then leave. Her opinion was worthless. Marnie had enjoyed last night. She grew up in the mortal world, lived as a mortal, had a mortal father, and had at least one mortal boyfriend. So she’d been burned by that, so what? She wasn’t like his father, or any of the other witches or warlocks in Halloweentown. She was _Marnie_.

He filed into Inter-Dimensional Interactions and took his place in the short line to the professor’s desk. Professor Taliesin was an older warlock who really hated cheating. He insisted on having all papers turned into him personally, where he would perform a magic check on the assignment.

Ethan stood there patiently as the professor examined his paper, then turned towards his seat once the man put it on the small stack he had next to him. He’d probably grade them all during this class while he had the students read, as usual. There was a nice little routine to this class, which was good because the subject could be difficult. The history of how people from the two worlds interacted was long and multi-faceted, though knowing it was necessary for all those majoring in Trans-Dimensional Business, like Ethan.    

Professor Taliesin looked up from his desk. “You may begin reading. Chapter six, A Tale of Two Worlds: How New Forms of Mortal Government Influenced the Halloweentown Reforms in the Late 1700s. There will be a lecture on Monday. Your papers will be graded by the end of the class.”

The class settled into silence and the sound of page-flipping. Ethan happily knew all this, so he pretty much scanned the chapter; his dad had drilled him in the High Council’s history, which this basically was. High school in the mortal world had taught him the mortal side of it.

He zoned out somewhere along the way, and must have fallen asleep, because his dad’s voice was the next thing he heard.

_"You always were a disappointment.”_

_Ethan shook his head and backed away. “I’m not playing this game anymore.”_

_“Yes, you are.” Edgar Dalloway matched every backward step of his son’s with a one forward. “And it is not a game.”_

_“Go away.”_

_“You have turned down everything your ancestors have worked for. All of it. Every ounce of potential. The serpent was right, you know. If she finds herself in trouble, you will be helpless to save her.”_

_“Marnie can handle herself.”_

_“And you know what has happened with her and mortal boys. Cody could not handle the magic he didn’t have. It must have been difficult. Would you saddle Marnie with someone who could not do the simplest tasks, like laundry, with any speed? That was why such relationships are just not done.”_

_“This is just a dream,” Ethan said, “You’re a figment of my imagination. Go away. I don’t want you in my life anymore.”_

_“Remember how easily prejudice manifests when people really have to confront what they do not like.”_

_Ethan readied to lash out at the apparition to make it shut up._

“Mr. Dalloway, I believe class is over.” Ethan looked up to see Professor Taliesin looking down at him with amusement. “And it has been over for quite some time.”

Ethan looked at the wall clock. He wasn’t kidding; class had started at eleven, ended at twelve thirty, and now it was almost one thirty. “Sorry, I must have drifted off.”

“It happens to the best of us.” The man seemed to be gritting his teeth in pain.

“Are you okay, professor?”

“My tinnitus seems to have returned. Go on, get out of here. It’s Friday.”

Ethan did as he asked. There really wasn’t anywhere in particular for him to go, so he headed over to the only coffee shop on campus, Witch Brew, to wait for Marnie. He got there around two exactly, and wondered if there would ever be a time when he could stay in one place around the same people for any serious period of time.

Marnie was already waiting for him, and she looked like she’d been waiting a long time. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” she answered. Her voice was dull and sleepy, as were her eyes.

“How long have you been here?”

“Since after I went through all the really old, big, difficult spell books, all five of them. Not long.”

“Rough, huh?”

“Yeah…” She winced, looking around. “Do you hear that awful ringing sound?”

“No.” That was weird; Professor Taliesin had said his tinnitus—ringing in the ears—was acting up, now Marnie was hearing a ringing.

She was looking at him critically. “Someone put a spell…” She snapped in his direction and looked much more relived suddenly, though still completely shot. “I guess it only affected witches.”

“Someone put a spell on me?” Scarlet, he’d bet. That would explain her laughter, that conniving evil snake.

Marnie nodded, her eyelids falling slowly. “Hopefully it’s the last bad thing in a very long day.”

Ethan shifted his chair around to her side. “Well, we’ve still got Grog’s class. More digging.” She groaned and let her head fall to his shoulder, eyes shutting. “You can’t fall asleep now.”

“Order coffee and I’ll drink it on the way.”

Ethan smiled and complied, giving a simple order to a smirking waiter. He let his hand fall lightly on Marnie’s.

No, she wouldn’t be like his dad or the Sinisters. She was Marnie.


	9. Chapter 9

 

(2nd week of October)

The warlock hall was creepy. Gargoyles with long-enchanted glowing eyes started out from the walls. The floors were dark wood and the walls were a sooty gray. It used to be professors’ quarters, but the changes at WitchUniversity had turned it into the domain of the young warlocks, and scarier for it.

It reminded Ethan of the Dalloway mansion, and he hated it for that. “Why do you bring me on these things?”

Kelli cheerfully disarmed another magical trap. “You were one of them.”

“I was a warlock. I was not one of _them_.”

“Keep it quiet,” Leona muttered.

This was Operation October, which had been planned a full month ahead in meticulous detail. That was what Leona had said, anyway.

“You are sure they can’t take the magic off this?” Vlad asked. He and Silvanus, a werewolf, were carrying a very large desk through the hall. Ethan’s slight shoulder injury had gotten him out of that particular duty.

Kelli nodded enthusiastically, creating a small pink storm around her head. “The desk and the pull-ties.” Leona and the others held up large bags of said pull-ties manically.

“Here we are,” Leona began gleefully. Vlad and Silvanus happily placed the desk in the middle of the hall. “Okay, we’ve got three hours to dawn. They probably won’t be up even then, but it would be nice to be gone by then. Kelli will check all rooms for occupants. If a room is empty—and Kelli will make absolute certain of this—you are to remove all furniture from it. You will then use the pull-ties to attach this furniture to this desk or other pieces of furniture. Be creative with placement and think of causing trouble. Make sure you’re quiet. Dismissed.”

The residents of Ethan’s hall—he was sure they had name for themselves, but no one had ever told him what it was—followed silently after Kelli. She nixed the first three rooms but the fourth was theirs for the plundering. With a quick charm, she unlocked the door and revealed the warlocks’ lounge area.

They got to work. Ethan dragged a few light chairs out, received pull ties, and proceeded to make a very abstract chair sculpture. Vlad added the big couch to it.

The two eyed their handiwork critically. “Do you think it conveys the full fury of my annoyance I feel when ever I see these idiots doting on the Sinister Sisters or cheating on a test or making some person’s life hell?” Vlad asked.

It was too early for that many words. “Does it look like we’re going to make them angry and make it hard to clean up?”

“Well, yeah.”

“It works.”

 “I don’t know. I really wanted to _convey_ something…”

Ethan laughed and turned back to help with the next room.

They moved like ants through the long hall, picking up furniture and carrying it over their heads to the drop-off point for silence’s sake. The quiet didn’t dent their enthusiasm, however.  Ethan found himself smiling so hard that his face started to hurt.

The pull-ties were a whole new layer of fun. Chair leg, table leg, loop around, pull, and life just got more complicated for annoying people.  Leona was a whirlwind with the things, piling chairs on top of each other and tying them together in several different places all in a matter of seconds, then moving on to the next clump of furniture.

It was sometime near dawn when Kelli declared that all unoccupied rooms had been cleared out. Silvanus wanted to go for the occupied rooms, but that was collectively vetoed at once. They snuck back out and hid in the stairwell, waiting for the fun to really begin, at least according to Leona.

Ethan just went with it all. It was all early enough that the whole thing seemed like the tail end of some dream.

Then the cursing broke out from the warlock hall, along with the sound of random furious enchantments, and he woke up to the fact that they really had gone and done this crazy thing. And lived, a major concern when pranking the warlocks.

The group helped each other back to their rooms. Ethan fell asleep to the sound of Leona’s sleep-deprived laughter ringing crazily next door.

 

* * *

  

If he ignored it, the knocking at the door would just go away.

“Ethan, it’s Marnie! Are you okay?” Oh. He rolled out of bed and shuffled over to the door to open it, finding Marnie looking extremely stressed.

“Marnie,” he said, trying to massage the new-found pain out of his neck. He had slept on it weird.  “Sorry. I was asleep.”

She relaxed, but not very much. “I was just worried. You’ve been gone all day.”

“I have?” He looked around for his alarm, found it on the floor. “Five? Whoa. We were really up early. Sorry.” He hoped missing so much wouldn’t cause any trouble.

“Doing what?”

“This hall pranked the warlocks.”

“I heard about that.” She sighed and slouched against the doorjamb. “Can I sit down for a minute? I’ve been chasing after either Dylan or you all day!”

“Uh, sure.” He stepped aside to let her in, a little embarrassed. His room was a bit of a mess, and he probably smelled; he’d fallen asleep in the clothes he wore during that morning’s labors.

Marnie took his desk chair and Ethan sat on his bed. “I did find Dylan,” she said.

He should say something clever to that, but he was just not very coherent right now. This was the last time he let himself be dragged to some crazy early morning thing. “Okay.”

“He’s shut up in his room right now and not talking to me. The rest of the week he’s been with the Sinister Sisters and not talking to me.”

Ethan blinked, trying to pull his thoughts together. “Stop worrying about him so much. Leave that to your mom…”

That wasn’t the right thing to say. Her eyes widened and she started to get up. “She might know what to do.”

Ethan caught Marnie’s shoulders and gently sat her back in the chair. He wished he could offer to take her flying, get her mind off things, but the broom had long since slithered off. “Later.”

She glared up at him. He wished he had something that would distract her. “And until ‘later’?”

“Listen, I’ll talk to him ‘later’ if you want.” Not that it would do any good, in Ethan’s opinion, but anything to stop Marnie from being so unhappy. “Just give me a few days to sleep.” Definitely days. He had classes to attend and a test later this week in… something.

That seemed to perk her up a bit. He had no idea why. “Really?”

“Really.”

She nodded and stood up. “Well, I guess I’ll let you sleep then.”

Ethan nodded back, and then he had an idea that made no sense, but then neither did anything else at the moment. He snatched the slight glitter of gold up from his desk. “Marnie,” he said, “Here.” He put the ring in her hand. “When it’s rough, just try and remember the other night. That’s what the big ‘D’ is for. Everything will be okay.”

She laughed and ruffled his hair. “Get some sleep, Ethan.”


	10. Chapter 10

(3rd week of October, Tuesday)

If Marnie got any more furious, she’d probably explode. Ethan was aware of this, and kept a reasonable distance; close enough to give comfort, far enough to avoid serious injury.

 “We dug all these things up with our bare hands,” Scarlet said, walking around with a scroll in hands like a scepter.

“Totally wrecked our manicures,” one of her sisters added.

The third, with great drama, finished, “I tore a cuticle.”

The other students admired the many, many finds of the Sinister Sisters with real curiosity. Some people even believed their line.

Grog walked over from one side of the room. “What a wonderful presentation!” He shouted, clapping his hands, “A plus, my dears!”

Many of the students begged to get a closer look at some of the stranger things the Sinister Sisters were showing off, but Grog refused with a smile. “No, our time is up. Something to look forward to for next time. Class dismissed!”

Ethan sighed and slowly followed Goodwin’s gesture to the exit. Marnie was going to let loose viciously once they got outside.

“Marnie Piper,” he heard Goodwin call, “Please stay.”

 That wasn’t good. Ethan slowed down by the entrance, waiting for whatever lecture Marnie was getting to be over with.  “What now?” Marnie said, “I didn’t bring up that thing from the dirt. Neither did Scarlet. Did you see her fingernails? They’re perfect. Those—” She held back the word she wanted to use, he could hear it— “Those Sinister Sisters use magic all the time, but do they get expelled? No; they get ‘A plus plus, my dears’ and that’s just wrong.”

“You’re right,” Grog told her.                                   

“I’m right,” Marnie affirmed, then her tone became confused, “I’m right?”

“Yes,” Goodwin said, “And I promise you I’ll deal with them soon. But right now we have something much more important at stake.”

Ethan stopped and turned to see what was going on. That seriously did not sound good. Goodwin had other plans, she was a member of his father’s crazy club…he ducked behind the wall, peeking out to see what was going on.

“Something only you can help us with,” Goodwin went on.

“Me?” Marnie asked.

Grog gestured to the scroll Scarlet had been carrying. “Open it.”

She did, and Ethan heard the distinct sound of magic. “I don’t understand,” Marnie said, reading.

“You’re special, Marnie,” Goodwin told her.

Marnie gave a falsely modest look. “Well.” Just like them, to feed and sue someone’s ego.

“Upon this scroll is an ancient Halloweentown prophesy,” Grog said, “It speaks of a powerful Cromwell who will bring peace to our world forever.”

Ethan tensed, watching. Marnie had _that_ look on her face. “And you think that’s me?”

Goodwin took on a serious tone. “Marnie, not all magic is good magic. There are dark forces at work in Halloweentown.”

Grog nodded. “On Halloween night, here at WitchUniversity, dark forces will try to shatter the peace and tranquility of our millennial celebration.”

“You alone can save our world,” Goodwin intoned. She handed Marnie the silver box. “Fulfill your destiny, Marnie. Find the key to this box. Embrace your gift, and Halloweentown will continue to exist in peace.” No, no, come on, Marnie! Since when do people tell you when you need to save the world? Doesn’t it just usually fall into your lap, no advice, no warning?

Marnie looked at the box and the scroll nervously. “Wow. No pressure or anything.”

She looked to Goodwin, wanting…what? Comfort? Ha-ha, we’re just kidding? “Now go,” the Chancellor said. She raised a finger. “And trust no one.”

Marnie nodded and turned to leave out the opposite door. Ethan stood there for a moment, thinking. There was a lot going on here, games that might not be so independent after all, if this was who he thought.

Start simple. Someone knew about the broom and the date. That someone told Scarlet about it. There weren’t many ways to spy on a witch without letting her know— unless it was with eyes everyone always saw anyway.

The gargoyles, right there in front of the castle, were alive, and Goodwin would have control over them as Chancellor. But the same position left her no time to monitor things.

Ethan left the room quietly. Leona and Vlad had bribed the gargoyles before to keep them quiet about their pranks. It couldn’t be that hard to bribe them into telling about who they were reporting to.

He dashed in to grab a couple of burgers from the cafeteria before taking to the castle’s main entrance. The gargoyles started growling as soon as he got out there, as they usually did at the smell of nearby food.

Ethan hid the burgers behind his back as he came down the stairs to confront the two stone creatures. “Hello, boys,” he said, “Now I know that you’ve been spying on Marnie Piper…” The two shook their heads. “I just need to know who has been paying you for your services, and why.” The nearest of the pair snarled a negative. Ethan pulled out the burgers and waved it before the gargoyle. “Spill it, and these babies are all yours.”

The nearby one kept on shaking its head violently, but the far one gave a wheezy sigh. Ethan moved to it, food in its view.  There was some panting and growling before he could make out to words: “Silas Sinister.” The Sinisters’ father.  He gave it the burger, pulling his hand back before the stone jaws could maul it.

“And why?”

The other almost roared to grab his attention. He leaned over to hear, very quietly, “Dominion.”

Ethan frowned and tossed the gargoyle the last hamburger. “Chow down.” Now for Marnie.

It all made sense now. The Sinister Sisters had been tempting Marnie, using Dylan and general annoyance. Goodwin and Grog had been trying to get Ethan to do the same thing, bring him to their side and play the romantic angle.

He needed to tell Marnie. She’d never believe him, because it sounded crazy and she admired Goodwin so much. They were using her, though, and for something bad. How exactly they planned to take over Halloweentown, he had no idea, but that was their ultimate goal.

Marnie was actually looking for him when he ran into her. “I need to tell you something,” he began, but she grabbed his arm and led him towards the stairs.

“Time for you to talk to Dylan,” she said, all urgency.

“Now?” When she’d just been given this all-important mission? “Why?”

She let go when she saw he was following her. “We need to hurry.” She headed down the stairs at a pretty good clip.

Ethan tried to grab her shoulder and her attention several times, but she always seemed to start going faster right then. They reached Dylan’s low-level hallway in under a minute. Ethan could understand her concern, but she need to know this _right now_. “Marnie—” he started.

“I have to talk to Dylan,” she said, cutting him off.

“Just stop for one second.”

She didn’t. “He’s still under Scarlet’s spell. He won’t want to talk to me. “ She stopped in front of Dylan’s door, giving him a plaintive look.

He couldn’t really resist. Ethan shrugged. “Fine. I’ll try.” He knocked on Dylan’s door. “Dylan. It’s Ethan. Dude, open up.”

Dylan did as asked, barely sparing them a glance as he turned back to his work.

Which was…could he finish all this? Notes and projects lay everywhere, and his carefully managed books were scattered as if a hurricane had blown through. “Dude,” Ethan said in uneasy awe.

“What is going on?” Marnie asked, also disturbed.

“Four papers, two exams, three book reports, and a speech with visual aids,” Dylan said, “I got to get back to work!”

“Of course you do.”

“Don’t try to stop me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Marnie said, exchanging an annoyed glance with Ethan. This actually didn’t seem out of character for Dylan, not to Ethan, though it was a little too intense.

“I can’t disappoint Scarlet,” Dylan declared, grabbing books, “Or Sage. Or Sapphire!”

A horrible screaming noise erupted as he ended that, as if summoned by the triplets’ names. Ethan jolted, a little surprised. “What was that?” he asked Marnie.

She rolled her eyes. “My mother.” She grabbed a small witch’s glass sitting on a shelf and went into the hall.

Ethan glanced after her and then at Dylan, who was hard at work. Trying to stop him seemed impossible. Marnie it was.

“Mom!” Marnie was saying as Ethan came up behind her.

He could hear Mrs. Piper’s voice, slightly fuzzy with the communication and the distance. “Maybe I could just pop in for a visit.” That, at the moment, seemed like a great idea to Ethan. They might need the help.

Marnie evidently didn’t agree. “No. Why?”

“Because I want to see you. Why can’t I come and visit?”

Something crashed lightly near Dylan, and Ethan had to go keep him from being crushed by his own books, missing Marnie’s probably negative reply.

“Thanks,” Dylan said, getting back up and at it again.

“They cast a spell on you,” Ethan told him, “You do know that, right?”

“Okay.” Dylan waved a hand and started moving very, very fast. Considering all he had to do, it was probably a necessary spell. They had him good. Ethan couldn’t do much but stare.

Marnie came back and watched him work with Ethan. “We can’t just leave him like this. We need help,” she said and marched out of the room.

Ethan followed her. “Marnie, wait. Where are you going?”

She held her hands out, as if the answer was obvious. “To get another witch, so there’s be three of us. We can do this.”

Three witches, immense power, blah, blah, blah…just great. He didn’t need this now. The entire world did not need this now. “No, we can’t.”

“I know it’s against the rules and we could all get expelled, but this is Dylan we’re talking about!”

“Marnie, I…” He gestured at himself, trying to explain. “Can’t help you.”

“You can’t, or you won’t?” she asked, outraged. She was still walking.

Ethan turned her around. He’d tell her about his powers now. “Marnie—” He couldn’t do this. “—it’s complicated.”

“No, it’s not. It’s simple,” she told him, dead serious, “I thought you were my friend.”

He seriously needed to explain the situation _now_. “Marnie, they’re using you,” he told her, scanning the halls. She gave him a confused glance. “Grog and Goodwin.” She shook her head. “They’re part of this secret club my dad used to belong to. These seven witches, who call themselves the Dominion. They’re plotting to use you and your magic to take over Halloweentown and make slaves out of all the other creatures.” She wasn’t buying it, just by the expression on her face. “They want to rule Halloweentown.”

Marnie shook her head this time. “No, you’re wrong. They’re the good guys.” She looked at him with all the disgust in the world, and he felt like someone had driven a knife into his heart. “Unlike you, Ethan.” She brushed past him, leaving him to stare at her retreating form.

Damn it. Ethan looked down as she disappeared around a corner. She was going to find that key, he knew it, and doom them all with the best of intentions. He was right. It was just that her blind admiration for Goodwin that kept her from seeing it.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d messed up somehow.


	11. Chapter 11

 

(4th week of October, one day before Halloween)

Marnie had vanished completely. Ethan had to settle for making sure Dylan didn’t do the same. It was an apology of sorts, though he had _not_ done anything wrong.

“I should have just told her everything from the start,” he muttered to himself, watching Dylan do homework at the Sinister Sisters’ table.

The spell was worse, now. They had Dylan holding the mirror for them as they fussed over their hair, bring them food, and clear hallways.  The trio seemed much more relaxed, though, leaving Ethan to conclude that Marnie had found the key, wherever she was.

The thing was that absolutely no one knew where she was. Aneesa hadn’t spotted her since that Tuesday, and neither had Ethan.  Dylan had absolutely no clue nor did he appear to care.     This was not good. Ethan was just waiting for things to spiral out of control.

Aneesa dropped down beside him with her dinner. “You should really eat something.”

Ethan kept his eyes on Dylan, determined not lose the younger Piper. “I had breakfast.”

The genie sighed. “Alright. You know, from what you said, they aren’t going to do anything until Halloween.”

“Yeah.” He forced himself to relax a bit. “That means it’s a spell.”

“Why?”

“There’s a spell on the campus, really old, that makes all spells _permanent_ at midnight on Halloween.”

Aneesa looked over to the Sinisters’ table. “That means Dylan…”

“Him, and whatever they’re doing with Marnie.”

“I’m sure she’s fine.”

Ethan gave her a disbelieving glance. “So you’ve had some luck?”

She shrugged. “Professor Grog says she’s off on a project, Professor Periwinkle just smiles.”

Periwinkle? That was weird. He didn’t see her as the Dominion type. “No one’s going to tell us anything.” He watched the Sinister Sisters leave. “I’m going to keep an eye on Dylan.”

“Just remember to get some sleep!” Aneesa shouted as he literally leapt off the bench, “And something to eat!”

Like that was important when Marnie and the world were probably in serious trouble. Ethan waved and followed the Sinister Sisters and Dylan from a discreet distance. He wished he could do something about all this besides watching over Marnie’s brother. Or at least that he could find her.

The Sinister Sisters disappeared around a corner, leaving Dylan with a mission. Ethan followed at a less discreet distance.

Dylan turned to face him all the sudden. “Whatever Marnie has you doing, it’s freaking me out.”

“Marnie’s _vanished_ for the same reason you’re being used,” Ethan snapped back, unable to restrain himself, “Come on, Dylan, break out of it. Something bad is going on, and your sister’s in the middle of it and no one can find—”

“That’s great. I’ve got a party to go to.” He snapped his fingers and did the one thing Ethan had been hoping he wouldn’t do: vanish.

This just kept on getting worse. It was a good thing classes had been called off for the next few days. Homework on top of this would be impossible.

He really should try to track down Dylan. He was one of the Dominion’s bargaining chips, one way they were manipulating Marnie. And Dylan was a friend who was being used as a slave by brood of snakes. Ethan couldn’t leave him hanging. It was near impossible to break that spell, with or without magic, but knowing where Dylan was would be a start of sorts.

Now, he said he was going to a party, which meant the Sinister Sisters had invited him…

 

* * *

  

Lines suck.

The groupies, wannabes, and simple party animals of Halloweentown were horrible people to be stuck in line with, be they creature or witch. Ethan had lost count of the hours he’d been waiting there, listening to the gossip and fashionable chatter. The line moved at a glacial pace, and lots of would-be attendees seemed to be turned away.

Suddenly the two fairies ahead of him slumped and left the line, revealing the bouncer and the dining hall’s entrance.

The entrance was sealed with a semi-transparent magic wall, complete with a sign that said ‘Private Party: Witches and Warlocks Only’.

_Hell_.

The bouncer, a tough looking troll, glared. “Open it or leave.”

Ethan glared at the wall. He wanted his magic back. It seemed like that could solve all his problems right now.

The troll moved to haul him out of the way. “Hang on,” Scarlet Sinister said, coming up on the other side of the wall. She smiled smugly at Ethan. “Don’t you wish you were with us now?”

“Only because I want to get a friend of mine out of your coils.” And he did. He could see Dylan in there, playing waiter.  It was pathetic. Dylan may have brought it upon himself for not listening to anyone, but that didn’t make Ethan want to help him out any less. “Let him go. Marnie’s getting that key for you.”

“So you’ve figured it out. She’ll be so much more than you when it’s done.”

“She won’t go through with it. She’s not like you.”

“No, because she can do it, and we can’t.” Scarlet looked thoughtful. “You know, she already is so much more than you, mortal. You can’t get in here, you can’t break the spell on Dylan, you can’t help Marnie out of this, but you want to do all of that. The mistakes you make.”

She was right and he hated it. If he had magic, this might be a normal ‘chase down the bad guys’ adventure, instead of helpless waiting.

But every warlock at the party, on the other side of that wall, was as much the Sinisters’ slave as Dylan was, and without any magic. He recognized guys he’d dealt with at his father’s functions, guys who had held up Kalabar as a hero long after his defeat, guys who dealt in terms of raw power and not much else.

Every warlock in Ethan’s recorded family had been that kind of person. He did not want to become that. Everything he had done, from surrendering his powers to selling off his family’s property, had been done in order to avoid becoming like his father and ancestors. He had felt that history and inherited power pressing him for vengeance sometimes. But the ancient past and its mistakes weren’t going to bind him to any fate, not Ethan Dalloway.

“Not mistakes. Just the way _I_ decide how to live _my_ life,” Ethan told Scarlet, “She’ll beat you in the end. And I’ll help her, even if she won’t have me. The world doesn’t belong to people like you.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Enjoy your last free day. In the end, the world _will_ belong to people like me.” She turned right around and headed back into the party’s depths.

Ethan moved as the Troll moved to toss him. “How long is this party going to last?” he asked the creature.

“Booked until tomorrow night, and that’s what they told me the seal’s set for. Witches can make themselves not need sleep, go figure. Now get.”

Ethan got. At least he knew where Dylan was for a while, whatever that was worth. 


	12. Chapter 12

(Halloween)

“Have you seen my brother?”

That was Marnie’s voice. Ethan stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at the courtyard to see her, beautiful as always and still very worried. Maybe even more worried. “Marnie!” he shouted. She turned around to look up at him. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Field trip.” She looked so tired. “Ethan, I’m so sorry. You were right about the Dominion, about everything.” He sort of shrugged. There really wasn’t any…”We need to find Dylan.”

Good thing he’d figured on that. “I already did.”

“Where?”

“At a party.” Marnie’s brow wrinkled, probably because that wasn’t like Dylan. “As a mind-controlled waiter.”

“Oh, no. Lead the way, and we’ll try this _again_.” She looked around carefully and snapped her fingers, appearing at Ethan’s side, stumbling a bit. “Ugh. I forgot what time travel takes out of you.” She regained her feet quickly. “Let’s go.”

“Right.” He started towards the party was. “Explanation?”

“It’s complicated.” Ethan suppressed a laugh. That just got _him_ in trouble. “There’s Aneesa,” Marnie said, holding up a bit, “Aneesa!”

The genie dropped the decoration she’d been holding and ran over. “Marnie, where have you been?”

“Field trip. Come on, we may need your help.”

Aneesa shrugged and joined them in their very fast walking. “I know Ethan found Dylan…”

“And Goodwin took the Gift.” Ethan and Aneesa exchanged confused glances.  “I need Dylan’s help, and maybe…” She shook her head. “Let’s hurry.”

 

* * *

 

 

The line was much shorter now, and the company was better.

“So you’re saying that the Gift can control people completely?” Aneesa asked, “And the Dominion wants you to use it at midnight to take over Halloweentown forever?”

Marnie nodded. “And Goodwin has it.”

“That’s going to be the hard part,” Ethan commented. Marnie frowned.

“And you need three Cromwells to destroy it,” Aneesa added, “Which is you, Dylan, and…who else?”

“My mother.”

They were suddenly bumped up to the front of the line. Marnie stared critically at the magic barrier for a second, and then drew it aside as if it were a curtain. Aneesa followed hard on her heels, but Ethan had to duck to avoid getting caught by the closing magic fire.

Marnie locked onto the Sinister Sisters and wove through the crowd with her friends right behind her. It was disconcerting to be surrounded by so many almost crazed witches and warlocks. It was obvious that neither Aneesa nor Ethan belonged, and they got a few glares for it.

Scarlet could be heard shouting over the music, “Daddy says that after tonight, this is what the whole world will look like. Us versus those things.”

Marnie tapped her on the shoulder, getting her attention quite quickly. “Having fun Scarlet?”

The Sinister witch examined her nails. “Not really. The service here stinks.” She glared over at Dylan, who was lifting a very large bowl of slime.

“Pudding, Scarlet?” he asked, coming forward. Scarlet’s eyes flashed red, and Dylan tripped in one step. The surrounding area broke out in laughter.

Ethan made his way past Marnie to help her brother. He wondered what Dylan’s response would be. Maybe that had been enough to snap him out of it.

“Why are you using him like this?” Marnie asked Scarlet. Ethan glanced at her as he helped Dylan set up without touching him. Did people actually eat something that looked like that?

“Oh, we’re not using him,” Scarlet said, “We’re using you.”

“Whatever you’re doing, it’s over.”

Scarlet smiled. “Not yet.” She looked over at her sisters.

The triplets  raised their hands, casting a spell together—a very potent spell, with three people, all of the same family. Three beams of light formed a bright star over Dylan, and it lashed out with a beam of light…

Leaving Dylan as a barking, black-and-white dog.

Marnie and Aneesa simply stared, and Ethan jumped to his feet. Was that legal anywhere? Ethan’s dad had used the trick a few times, even on Ethan, but never so publicly.

Sapphire laughed and tossed dog-Dylan a drumstick. “Fetch!”

Dylan caught it and bolted, all to the Sinister Sister’s laughter. Marnie ran after him. “Dylan! Wait, Dylan!”

The dog didn’t seem to recognize his name, because he ran straight through the barrier without halt.

Aneesa gaped after Marnie, then glared at the Sinister Sisters. “You…bitches,” she said, “If I were less of a genie, I’d say worse.”

Scarlet chuckled. “You don’t think we’d do it to you?” She eyed her critically. “Maybe a cat, then we could really have some fun with dog-boy.” Scarlet looked over at Ethan. “How about you, Dalloway? A sparrow?”

“Been there, done that.” Aneesa raised her eyebrows.  Ethan rolled his eyes. Everyone always wanted to know that story. “Come on, Marnie’s going to need our help.”

Scarlet waved goodbye lazily as they left. “You can’t help her, but failure’s always fun to watch.”

They followed some chatter about a dog back to the castle. It was quite the event, as dogs were not a common sight around here. At least Dylan would stand out in a crowd.

Marnie was on the castle steps, talking to a well-dressed witch—Gwen Piper. Ethan hesitated for an instant, a bit afraid of her take on him after everything, but went on ahead. The world needed saving, after all.

Mrs. Piper only raised an eyebrow. “At least we’re not completely alone.”

Marnie nodded. “I lost Dylan,” she said, “We _have_ to find him before midnight and change him back.”

Not only would Dylan be himself again, they would have enough Cromwells to destroy the gift. “I’ll go look,” Ethan volunteered. He’d be useless once the witches set to their magic. “Be careful, Marnie. They want you, remember.”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He could feel the cool metal of a ring on her finger, and at the corner of his eye he could see the crimson ‘D’ on it. “I know. Be careful yourself.” She let go, sending him off with a worried look.  

He wished she didn’t carry the whole world on her shoulders. It couldn’t be helped.  But he’d do what he could to make the burden lighter.


	13. Chapter 13

(Still Halloween, but later on Halloween)

“Dylan!” Ethan called to the moonlit woods, “Dylan!”

It was creepy out here and he had a handful of potato chips. If he’d lived in the mortal world, this would have been a scene out of a bad horror movie.

He’d been out and about for hours, following leads and stolen food. He was glad he’d grabbed those chips in his room before he began. Raymond had called at the time, and Ethan had picked up out of habit, causing a slight delay. The food should be worth it, though, judging by the complaints of various venders Ethan had run into so far.

“Dylan!” he shouted again. Why the dog-boy would come out here, to the middle of nowhere…

“Woof!” Ethan turned around to meet Dylan’s brown, canine eyes.

“Hey, buddy,” he said, moving forward with the chips held in front of him, “Come on. Let’s get you back to normal.”

Dylan cocked his head almost thoughtfully, his eyes on the chips. “Come on, boy,” Ethan said. He was going to hold this against Dylan as long as he lived.

Right on cue, Dylan decided and went for the food. Ethan let him have it, but got a good grip on his friend’s furry ruff. He scratched the dog-boy’s head. “Now to get you back to normal.”

“I don’t think so, Mr. Dalloway,” a booming voice called. The area suddenly lit up with magic flares, temporarily blinding Ethan. He felt someone grab hold of his arms and take away Dylan.

He blinked, wishing his eyes would adjust faster. “Who the hell are you?”

“Someone you don’t want to mess with.” Ethan’s eyes finally got used to the brilliant light. Silas Sinister stood there, looking quite pleased with himself.  “We now have two ways of persuading Marnie Piper. Thank you very much.” He nodded to the thugs holding Ethan and Dylan. “Bring them along.” And he was gone in a flash of red light.

Ethan found himself being half pushed, half carried through the woods. The trio wore robes, but from their size he would have guessed that they were creatures. Paid muscle, probably. This was the shady side of Halloweentown.

They blindfolded him at some point and proceeded to drag him into a building. Dylan whimpered nearby all the way. At some point a door closed behind the group and Ethan could feel the silent motion of a magical elevator.

The door opened quietly again in a few minutes. One of the thugs grabbed Ethan and dragged him along in a gloating way. “Pity you can’t see this trick.”

There was a sudden series of successive thumps, the sound of doors being thrown violently open. “Come in, come in,” Sinister’s voice boomed, as if right in Ethan’s face, “Please make our guests comfortable.”

The blindfold was torn from Ethan’s eyes to reveal a _really_ long hallway, with Silas Sinister, Goodwin, and Grog standing at the end. The thug started to push him towards them.

“A little dramatic,” he muttered. This place was like an ostentatious version of his dad’s old office, and it was creepy as all hell. There were snake sculptures and ornaments everywhere. He was willing to bet that every single one of them could come to life at a word.

“Well, it is a dramatic event,” Goodwin told him, magically projecting her voice, “We must thank you, Mr. Dalloway, for leading us to the last missing piece of our game.”

Ethan tried to dig his heels in, but the thug’s strength won out. Dylan whined behind him as he was carried forward in another’s arms. “It’s not a game.”

“True,” Grog answered, “It is a _destiny_.”

“They all say that.” This last section was the freakiest, because it had the Sinister family portraits. Their eyes were following him. “None of them— _oof_!” He was shoved into the Dominion’s midst very suddenly.

Goodwin smiled condescendingly at him as a pair of their thugs grabbed Ethan’s arms from behind, holding him. “You could have been a part of this,” she said, gesturing to herself and the two warlocks, “Part of a great moment in history. A turning point.”

“Once was enough, thanks.”

Sinister snapped his fingers, summoning a cage. “But not so great as this. This will hold the mutt,” he told Dylan’s captor.

Ethan watched as Dylan was shoved in the cage. “How did you find me?”

“You had an argument with an old family servant before you came here, yes?”

“Yeah.” _Raymond_. How had he contacted them?

“He used an old witch’s glass of your father, crafted specifically for Dominion purposes. There were concerns over how you were abandoning your family history over a woman. He asked us to guide you back to the true path of your heritage, away from chasing a lost dog.” Sinister chuckled. “It was enough of a lead. Magic did the rest.”

He was going to bury that old fossil. Ethan hadn’t realized that his quick way of getting Raymond to go away had disclosed so much. He hadn’t realized that Raymond might know of his father’s contacts.

Sinister looked pleased at Ethan’s rage. “Keep him over there,” he said, gesturing to the other end of the office, “Now we wait.”

Wait for what? Ethan struggled in vain as he was hauled into a corner. He should have known they’d find him, that they’d want Dylan as a way to get and finish using Marnie. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

Dylan whined as if begging for help for a few minutes. The Dominion perked up, tense.

There was the sound of transportation spell and a flash of light; they had Marnie! Ethan lunged for her, but didn’t even get a foot away from where he was held.

“Dylan!” he heard her say, making the dog-boy whine louder, “Where’d you find him?”

“We had help,” Sinister said.

_What_? Ethan was shoved forward again, into the Dominion’s little circle and Marnie’s sight. He raised his hands. “Marnie, I’m sorry.”

“You’re working with them?” Not this again. Not her doubt, her anger, her betrayed look. It hurt like nothing else, to see all that in her eyes and hear it in her voice.

“No!” he shouted. Would the world just stand still for a minute and let him explain at least one thing?

 Sinister cut him off. “Oh, yes, he was.” The businessman came around to grab Ethan by the shoulders, like a proud father. Ethan stared at Marnie, willing her to ignore this creep. “He just didn’t know it.” Marnie’s eyes anger was thankfully redirected. Well, she was going to forgive him for this, at least, if they all got through the night. “Ethan found your brother,” Sinister went on, “and we found Ethan.”

“Let them go,” Ethan said, impulsively, stupidly. They were what the Dominion wanted, after all. Ethan was the useless pawn, Dylan was the bishop, and Marnie was the queen.

Sinister seemed amused. “Oh, I will. As soon as Marnie agrees to work with us.”

All eyes turned towards the witch in question. “What do you want from me?” she asked.

“It’s quite simple,” Goodwin told her, “Do what your silly grandmother would not. Wear the amulet, use the Cromwell Gift.”

“You mean, turn all those inferior creatures into slaves so the Dominion can rule Halloweentown?”

Sinister shook his head. “You make things sound so…sinister, Marnie. We’ll bring order to this place. Together we’ll use the power to make things run much more smoothly.” Ethan glanced at Marnie. She’d never fall for this. “It will all be so much easier for everyone when the Dominion is in charge.”

“And you want me to be your queen?”

“Only for one night.”

“One night?”

Goodwin approached Marnie like a friend giving advice. “Tonight at the celebration, you’ll use the Gift to cast a spell establishing the rule of the Dominion over Halloweentown, a spell which will of course become permanent at the stroke of midnight.”

“After that, we won’t need you anymore,” Sinister said off-handedly. Ethan wondered who in their right mind would find that a comfort.

“Well, I won’t do it,” Marnie stated.

“You insolent girl!” Grog interjected, his first words to Marnie during this little meeting. He got glares from Goodwin and Sinister and backed down.

“Do you want your brother to lap water from a toilet for the rest of his life?” Sinister asked. Marnie ducked down to Dylan, not liking the idea. “All we have to do is keep him that way until midnight and he will be in the doghouse permanently.”

Marnie stared at her brother, and Ethan watched her. He didn’t know what she’d decide here. The greater good was easy to talk about when your brother was not a dog. He glared at Sinister.  Marnie didn’t deserve to be in this position, and it was this man’s fault she was.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Marnie said.

Ethan stepped forward, prepared to plead the ‘greater good’. “Marnie—”

She stood and gave him a reassuring look. She had a plan. “But I’m going to need time to get ready. After all, a girl’s only queen for a night once.” She met Goodwin’s eyes in an arrogant way. “I want my best friend Aneesa to be my royal dresser. I want to hang out in my room, do my hair, and I will wear a dress, so I can act the part.” The Dominion did not seem happy about this. Sinister, in particular, gave a nasty glare. “It is my wish,” Marnie finished.

“Absolutely, my Queen,” Sinister said, grudgingly, “Absolutely.”

Marnie turned to Ethan. “Ethan, make sure Dylan is in the courtyard before midnight.”

He wished he knew al this plan, but there wasn’t any room for discussion. He’d trust her. “We’ll be there.”

She nodded and opened the witch’s glass on her wrist. “Beam me up, genie.” He watched her disappear in smoke, off to buy some time.

“Get them out,” Goodwin said, gesturing to Ethan and Dylan.

The thugs immediately dragged the two down the halls and into the elevator. They marched them to the front door and out into the woods, beyond the tower’s lights, tossing them both into the leaves. “Have a nice walk.”

Ethan caught Dylan before he could bite. He let the Dominion’s hired help leave before he stood. They’d cause more trouble if they could. “Let’s go,” he said, holding his friend’s neck. It had been at least a good two hours out here, and right now it had to be around nine. “I think it’s going to be a long night.”


	14. Chapter 14

(Halloween, three minutes until midnight)

“Come on, Dylan,” Ethan said, maneuvering through the crowd. He’d found a leash and a collar in a store near Town Square. They’d been meant for more magical pets, but it worked. Ethan eyed the clock. “We’ve got three minutes.” Dylan barked, as if worried. “I know. It’s going to be fine.”

They stopped at the front of the courtyard. Ethan crouched down to pet the dog-boy, as much for his friend’s comfort as his own. He really wished he knew the plan.

Mrs. Piper burst out of the crowd. “Dylan! Oh, honey, sweetie!” She bent down to hug her transformed son.  Ethan stood up to give them some privacy. “I promise we will get you out of this,” Mrs. Piper told Dylan.

Trumpets blared form the castle, drawing everyone’s attention upward. Ethan left Dylan with Mrs. Piper, staring up as the Dominion filtered onto the balcony with Marnie in the middle.

His breath caught a bit at the sight of her. She did look the part, like she’d wanted. The dress looked like something from a princess’ wardrobe, modestly highlighting every asset she had in regal fashion. A crown glittered on her head, out of place, somehow, on top of auburn curls. Everything seemed out of place, though he liked the picture. Her eyes appeared so cold as they looked down on the courtyard.

She would save the world, he knew it. She’d done it before. The Gift was a temptation for anyone—to control other people, to make them do what you want, whatever that might be—but Marnie was strong.

Goodwin held out her cupped hands to Marnie, talking too quietly for anyone in the courtyard to hear. Marnie answered, turned to Sinister, shaking her head slightly. Those who knew what was going on waited tensely, while everyone else was just curious.

Sinister, Goodwin, and Grog raised their hands suddenly, magic spilling from their palms. Ethan watched a small star form in the air, an exact replica of the Sinister Sisters’ spell. Marnie had just negotiated for Dylan’s humanity. He couldn’t think of another explanation.

Light shot from the star, another repeat, and hit Dylan, reversing the earlier spell. The crowd gave ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’, much to the apparent amusement of the Dominion above.

“Opposable thumbs,” Dylan said, looking at his hands, “ _Thank you_!”

Mrs. Piper hugged him. “Are you okay, honey?”

“Yeah. I think I’ll just sit…and stay.” Dylan awkwardly folded his legs beneath him.

“Just don’t roll over yet.” Mrs. Piper stood, eyes trained attentively on the balcony.

Goodwin held her hands out to Marnie again. “Marnie Piper,” she said, magically amplifying her voice, “Granddaughter of Splendora Agatha Cromwell, take on your Gift and fulfill the prophecy.”

Ethan watched with growing irritation as Goodwin whispered in Marnie’s ear. Marnie’s eyes crossed his for an instant, too far away to read well. She seemed to give a quiet affirmative to Goodwin.

The Chancellor smiled and raised a glowing amulet to show everyone. “Citizens of Halloweentown, behold!” She turned and clasped the amulet around Marnie’s neck. “I give you your Queen!”

The crowd clapped. This was just a show to them. Ethan glanced back and then looked back to Marnie. What was her plan?

The clock struck midnight.

The amulet on Marnie’s neck began to glow even more viciously, making Marnie herself shine. Ethan saw her irises flush red—so hard, foreign, but strangely entrancing.  Something began to burn in him. The muscles in his legs clamored to give, drop down before her and offer everything he was.

“Citizens of Halloweentown,” she called, her voice as foreign as her eyes, “I now possess the power to make you my slaves and bend you to my will.”

Ethan waited. She had to have a plan. She had to have some way to save them all from this…from herself.

Marnie shouted incoherently, letting red magic pour out from her hand to her brother and mother, leaving them bathed in a red glow. “Yes, my Queen,” Dylan shouted, stepping forward with his arms out. He drew back immediately, stunned and looked to his mom. “Did I just say that?” It would have been funny if Ethan could read Marnie’s face to see where she was taking this. Had she given in? ‘The Gift can make even a good witch…’

She lifted her other hand. “By the power of the Dominion, do as I command!”

Aneesa jolted as the red blast hit her. She held up her lamp. “For you, my Queen!”

Ethan’s brow furrowed. That was a strange—

“Now, Aneesa!”

Aneesa blew her purple smoke up to the balcony. It seized the amulet from Marnie’s neck, carrying back into Aneesa’s lamp.

Marnie’s eyes were no longer glowing. “By the Power of Three,” she shouted in her strange voice, “I command you to destroy the Gift forever!”

The Dominion shouted in protest, reaching out as Aneesa tossed her lamp up. Marnie, Dylan, and Mrs. Piper lifted their hands in a simultaneous spell. Their three beams of light met on the lamp in a burst of bright white light.

Ethan blinked was blinded for an instant. The sound of fireworks filled the air, and when he recovered his sight, fireworks filled the sky.

He smiled, holding back a relieved laugh. Marnie had done it. She’d beaten the Dominion at their own game.

Grog, Goodwin, Sinister, and their cronies fled the balcony. Marnie stayed put, almost smiling. ‘Third slapped Ethan on the shoulder, jarring loose that light, relieved laugh.

“Happy Halloween!” someone shouted in the courtyard.

“What a show, huh?” ‘Third asked, “I should have known Marnie had a surprise planned. And with the Chancellor’s help, too.”

“Yeah.”

The gargoyles growled nearby, drawing Ethan’s attention. Professor Periwinkle stood at the bottom of the stairs before a frozen Dominion. She looked very pleased with herself. Goodwin was pointing at her threateningly. “Persimmon Periwinkle—”

“It’s Agent Periwinkle,” the English professor corrected, “of the Halloweentown Anti-Dominion League.”

“Preposterous!” Sinister growled.

“What’s preposterous is how long I’ve been undercover: ten centuries!” The Dominion gaped.  “You are all hereby stripped of your magic powers and are under arrest for treason!” She raised a witch’s glass. The Dominion screamed as they went up in a cloud of smoke, reappearing in the witch’s glass with pained cries.

Professor Periwinkle smiled at the glass and tucked it away. She turned around to find Ethan watching. “I’m quite glad you were not involved in this, Mr. Dalloway.”

She’d thought he had been? “Er, thank you.”

“I didn’t truly believe you were, understand me. The family connections, however, can make one suspicious. Now, I need to go take these three to the court.” The woman got a mischievous look on her face. “Please help Mr. Piper humble the Sinister girls, will you? It’s been hard watching that, but now they are, quite literally, powerless. Oh, and treat Marnie well. She’s an extraordinary young woman.”

Ethan nodded and the witch disappeared. Marnie came down to her mom and brother’s arms. They wandered off into the crowd to talk. The party began to get under way, dancing, eating, laughing.

There were just a few things Ethan needed to take care of before he could really join in.


	15. Chapter 15

(November 1st, 12:15 AM)

“Kelli,” Ethan said, watching the witch…dance. Or move, anyway. “Kelli.”

“Hey, Ethan,” Leona said at his side, likewise...moving, “Come on. It’s fun. Like a sprinkler, see?”

He didn’t. “Right. Kelli, do you have a witch’s glass? Non-specific?”

 The pink-haired witch nodded, summoning the thing. “Here you go, just give it back when you’ve made your call. And no longer than twenty minutes, otherwise it starts to charge me!”

This only needed two minutes, or less. He waved his thanks and retreated to a quieter area. “The Dalloway Estate,” he told the glass.

A few seconds of ringing and the surface resolved into Raymond’s head. “Sir?”

“You’re fired.”

The skeleton looked shocked. “I beg your pardon?”

“Leave the estate and my employ and never come back. You sold me out to a bunch of awful people.” Ethan had an idea that would make sure Raymond really followed through. “You betrayed the last Dalloway heir.”

The shock transformed into horror. “I…sir…” Raymond’s jawbone clacked for a few minutes without words. “I believed it to be necessary.”

“It wasn’t. In fact, it could have cost me my life.”

Raymond nodded after a few seconds. “I…will leave right away, sir. That was an inexcusable. I should have remembered the nature of your father’s friends.” And that was that. Raymond’s image faded without another word.

Ethan took the glass back to Kelli. Leona and Vlad attempted to get him to dance with the rest of the hall, but Ethan was having none of it. “I’ve got to talk to someone.”

Leona nodded and winked, dragging Vlad away.

Ethan headed off to find Marnie. This was going to be the hard part, but he’d put it off too long. What might have been avoided if he’d just said it, and kept Marnie from running like that?

He found her as the celebration began to cool off, people heading off for other parties or just back to their beds. She was talking to Aneesa. Something about being roommates.

“Hey,” Ethan said. She looked even more beautiful close up.

She gave a slight smile. “Hey.”

Aneesa looked at the two of them. “You know, I really hoped you two had moved past monosyllables.” Marnie laughed a little. Good. He had been getting so sick of her seriousness and worry. “I think I’ll go help…” And she proceeded to pronounce ‘Third’ s proper troll name and left, waving at Marnie.

“What you did,” Ethan said, “Giving up that power…”

She laughed lightly, shaking her head and began to walk towards the courtyard. “You probably think it was stupid.”

He walked with her. “Stupid? I think it’s amazing.” He shrugged. “Power isn’t really important to me.”

“What kind of warlock doesn’t like power?” she asked, disbelieving.

This was the hard part. He was a little glad she’d led into it. He stepped in front of her. “The mortal kind.” She stopped smiling, looked confused. “When my dad tried to steal your family’s magic, the council took his powers.” Deep breath. “And I renounced mine. I can’t do magic, I can’t fly on a broom, or any other cleaning instrument.” She smirked a bit. “Those flowers I gave you—that was just a trick I learned from some book.” She was serious again, and it was out, and now Ethan felt a senseless desire to bolt. “I’m a mortal now, Marnie. I should have told you. I’m sorry.”

And he bolted. He wasn’t sure he could take her small, slightly disappointed ‘oh’ followed by reassurances and then a steady distancing. It would drive him insane.

Not that there was any real guarantee of those reactions. Really, there wasn’t. Marnie was so much more than any other witch he’d ever met. Space, though, felt necessary.

He spotted Dylan and came over to him, remembering Periwinkle’s request. “What’s up, man?”

“I’m glad to be back on two legs.”

“I bet. No lingering trauma, right?”

“No, just a burning desire for vengeance.”

“That I can help with.” Ethan spotted the Sinister Sisters. “Hey, Scarlet.” He waved her over, and stood at Dylan’s shoulder, pointing to the younger man and holding his shoulders, as if presenting him to the girls like a specimen. “I think you owe my boy Dylan here an apology.”

“Excuse me?” Scarlet said, “If anything he should apologize to me. I wasted a whole month of college on that toad.”

Dylan gave Ethan a look that told him where to put his ‘I told you so’.

Scarlet glanced at her sisters. “Join me in a little Sinister magic, sisters.” The three snapped there fingers…and nothing happened. Ethan put his hands behind his back and leaned forward a little with a curious expression. Scarlet snapped again and again to no effect. “My magic,” she said, “It’s gone!”

“Yours, your fathers, your whole family’s, actually,” Dylan said. Ethan nodded by his side.

“I don’t get it!” Sage said.

“We’re mortal now, dumbbell,” Sapphire told her.

“We might as well be ugly!” Scarlet shouted. The three marched away with as much dignity as they still had, leaving Dylan grinning ear to ear.

“Thanks a ton,” Dylan told Ethan, “That was great.”

“We did warn you, you know.”

Dylan rolled his eyes. “And I was an idiot for not listening and look where it got me. Lesson learned. I’m going to go find my mom. See you later, dude.”

Ethan waved as the young man began to search the crowd. He tugged on his collar—three layers may have been a bit much, even in the autumn air—and turned around to see Marnie. (With her mother, meaning Dylan had left in the wrong direction.)

Marnie came over with a slight smile. Ethan returned it. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She looked up for a second, as if remembering something. Her eyes flicked downward with that _thing_ in them again, and she pulled a huge bouquet of flowers from her back to present to him.

Ethan laughed, winning that big happy smile from her again. He loved that smile. He met her eyes and held them for a long while.

Marnie broke the gaze first. “I’m glad you like them,” she said, giggling.

“Yeah. Listen, I’m _really_ —”

“No. It’s fine. You’re you.”

Ethan took a deep, shaky breath. The fireflies were in his stomach again. “Want to get something to eat?”

“Sure.”

They turned towards the food carts. Ethan bumped her shoulder and put his arm around her waist. She smiled up at him and did the same to him.

Marnie stared the immense cake sitting nearby as they neared the small food court. “I’m so hungry. I haven’t had anything all day.”

“Go ahead and find a seat,” Ethan told her, nodding to some tables, “I’ll get you a piece.” He let go of her reluctantly.

“Maybe three pieces.”

He grinned and did as asked. A band was getting set up a couple yards away, complete with a dance floor. And no crisis or Sinister Sisters to interrupt…

Ethan carried the cake over to a very eager looking Marnie. She dug in at once. “Aneesa did a good job,” he said, eating more slowly, “I mean, not that you don’t normally look great, but you really looked the part.”

“Thanks. I wish the preparation could have been more fun. We were discussing plans the entire time.” She sighed, laying her fork on the plate. “It’s been a very long night. I can’t believe I trusted them. I can’t believe…”

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

 He had a feeling about where her thoughts headed, mostly because he knew what it was like to be faced with great and terrible magic, though nothing quite like the Gift. “What would you have done?” he asked quietly, “If you had done it? If it really had been a good thing?

She looked a little offended. “Still wouldn’t do it. It would make everyone slaves, Ethan!”

“You thought about it. Anyone would think about it.”

The tension went out of her shoulders at that. She knew he was right.  “What would you have done?” Marnie asked, turning the question back around on him.

He just said the first thing that popped into his mind. “Gotten my butler to do what I want and sell my dad’s estate. Your turn.”

“I would have made everyone get along, like they said.” She looked down, flushing a little at whatever was going through her mind. “Been royalty.”

“You never needed the Gift for that, you know." She looked up at him. He grinned. “You’re always Queen Marnie Piper the First of Halloweentown…to me, anyway.”

Marnie blushed again, more innocently. “Thank you.”

The band started up at long last. Ethan stood and bowed to Marnie, holding out a hand. “A dance, your Majesty?”

She laughed and took the offered hand. He noticed the Dalloway ring still glinting on her finger. “Always, Sir Dalloway.”

He loved her smile. Ethan gave into impulse and kissed her lightly as they swept off to the dance floor.

Marnie smiled up at him when he pulled away. She clung to him tightly as they began to sway to the music. “It’s good to be Queen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is cute and silly. It means a lot to me, though. It was my first big fic, and my first time writing from a male character perspective for a prolonged period of time. It proved to me that I could write like this, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it, that October long ago.


End file.
